China’s foreign trade again grew in double digits in December – but overall more slowly than in the previous month. As reported by customs in Beijing on Friday, exports calculated in US dollars rose by 20.9 percent compared to the same month last year, after growth in November was still 22 percent. However, exports were slightly above analysts’ expectations.
The figures for imports, on the other hand, were worse than predicted. China imports increased 19.5 percent in December. In the previous month, the increase was still 31.7 percent. Business in December was particularly bad for German exporters. Chinese imports from Germany fell by 14.1 percent compared to the same month last year. On the other hand, as in November, China’s exports to Germany again increased strongly by 29 percent.
China, where the coronavirus was first detected worldwide in December 2019, is pursuing a zero-Covid strategy. With mass tests, contact tracing and forced quarantines, the most populous country has been quite successful in bringing the virus under control since the summer of last year, which has had a positive effect on the economy and orders from abroad.
However, local outbreaks have increased recently, some of which have had a severe impact on economic activity in the affected cities and regions. Factories had to temporarily shut down operations and supply chains were disrupted.
Observers fear that the economic outlook could cloud over significantly, especially with the spread of Omicron, since China’s containment strategy could reach its limits due to the more easily transmitted variant of the corona virus. Last Sunday, China’s first local omicron cases were detected in the port city of Tianjin. Shortly thereafter, omicron infections also occurred in the port city of Dalian and in Anyang in eastern China.
Even though expectations have recently been scaled back somewhat, experts are anticipating strong economic growth in China of around eight percent this year. The Beijing Statistics Office will present the growth figures for the past year next Monday.