China’s exports likely grew more quickly and for a second month in December, a Reuters poll showed, adding to signs global trade is starting to recover thanks to an upturn in the electronics industry and expectations of lower borrowing costs in 2024, reports Reuters. Outbound shipments from the world’s second-largest economy are expected to have risen 1.7% in December from a year earlier, after ending a seven-month slump and growing 0.5% in November, according to the median forecast of 32 economists polled.
Global trade slowed in 2023 as higher interest rates in the United States, Europe and other major consumer markets crimped demand.
The United Nations warned trade in goods likely contracted by nearly $2 trillion or 8% last year. But improving Chinese, South Korean and German export data suggests conditions are slowly turning a corner.