August imports contract, exports beat expectations

China saw imports contract 2.6% year-on-year in August, the latest in a string of disappointing growth data, The Wall Street Journal reported. China’s trade surplus widened to US$26.7 billion in August from US$25.1 billion in July. However, exports climbed 2.7% last month, outpacing growth of 1% in July and the 2.5% expansion expected by economists. The figures followed releases of poor industrial output figures and rising inflation rates earlier this week. The government’s response to the continued slow economic perfomance has so far been mild, economists said, with the People’s Bank of China not yet following up on the interest-rate cuts carried out in June and July. However, the government has accelerated investment in new projects, approving in the year to August 1,555 major projects, or a 13% year-on-year increase.