BEIJING- China’s exports growth lost steam in November, pressured by a strong yuan, weakening demand and higher costs, but imports unexpectedly accelerated as the country scrambled to restock depleted commodities like coal.
Exports rose 22 percent year-on-year in November, customs data showed on Tuesday, slower than the 27.1 percent jump in the previous month but faster than the 19.0 percent expected in a Reuters poll.
Imports climbed 31.7 percent, beating the 19.8 percent rise in October and well above the forecast 20.6 percent gain.
China’s coal imports in November hit their highest level in 2021, as the world’s biggest consumer of the dirty fuel scrambled during the onset of winter to feed its power system, which had been experiencing shortages.
The easing of the power crunch also helped increase demand for copper. Imports of the key industrial metal hit their highest levels since March.
“Coal imports in particular soared. I think this reflects the policy change in China to solve the energy shortage problem, which constrained growth in Q3,” said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. “I don’t think there is a significant improvement of domestic demand yet.”
China’s trade surplus was $71.72 billion last month, narrower than the poll’s forecast for $82.75 billion and the $84.54 billion surplus in October.
The data comes a day after China’s central bank announced a cut to the amount of cash that banks must hold in reserve, its second such move this year, to bolster slowing economic growth.
