Good news from the early July figures on the Chinese economy with exports up sharply, imports down, and a record trade surplus of more than $US47 billion and inflation stable, with house price growth continuing to ease as the property boom subsides.
And the coming week sees more figures on industrial production, investment and retail sales, which will show more of the same.
China’s consumer price index was unchanged in July – rising an annual 2.3%, the same as June, while producer price deflation continued to ease.
Food prices, which account for about one third of the weighting in the CPI calculation, rose an annual 3.6% year on year in July, down from 3.7% in June.
Residential prices, which cover those for rent, utilities and building materials, grew by 2 percent year on year amid a weakening property sector.
And China’s producer price index, which measures inflation at wholesale level, dropped 0.9% year on year in July, its 29th monthly fall.
But the National Bureau of Statistics report said the rate of decline narrowed for a 4th successive month, down from 1.1% in June, 1.4% in May, 2% in April and 2.3% in March.
And that was the most important news from the inflation data as it shows the rising pace of activity in economy is starting to bump up demand for goods and prices.
And other figures from the National Bureau of Statistics data showed that growth in property development investment slowed to 14.1% in the first half from 20.3% in the same period of 2013, and housing sales dropped 6% year on year in the six months to June.
The trade data though attracted more attention with exports up 14.5% in July, double the 7.2% rise in June, while imports fell 1.6%, compared with a 6% rise in June and a 1.6% fall in May (so the fall wasn’t as surprising as some commentary claimed).
That left a trade surplus of $US47.3 billion in July from $US31.6 billion in June.
The previous monthly trade surplus record was $40.09 billion in November 2008.
The trade surplus for the first seven months jumped sharply to to $US150.6 billion from $US125.9 billion in the same period last year.
Combined exports and imports grew 2% in the seven months to July, from a year earlier, well behind the government’s full-year target of 7.5%.
The jump in exports further confirms the rebound in demand for China’s exports from its major trading partners.
The fall in imports is more down to lower prices for key imports such as iron ore, soybeans and other grains, coal and oil.
The average price of Chinese iron ore imports in the first seven months of the year fell 14.5%, according the official figures, even though the amount of ore imported was up 18%.
Over the first seven month of the year, crude oil imports rose 7.2% by volume, while the average price fell 1%, while the average price of soybeans dropped 4%, and the volume jumped 20.2%.
China’s exports to the European Union jumped 17% in July from a year earlier and by 12.3% to the US. Sales to economies in south east Asia rose nearly 12%. Those are very solid increases in shipments, so the demand must be there.
