China’s export growth slowed to the weakest in six months as a slump in shipments to the US deepened again, although a surge in sales to other markets kept Beijing on track for a record trade surplus of over $1.2 trillion this year, reports Bloomberg. Overall sales abroad rose 4.4% in August from a year earlier to $322 billion, according to a statement from the General Administration of Customs on Monday. That fell short of the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey and was far weaker than a gain of 7.2% in July. Exports to the US fell 33%, the fifth month of double-digit declines.
“The story is still that the tariff shock can be offset by a more diversified market and strength in manufacturing goods for China,” said Michelle Lam, Greater China economist at Societe Generale SA. “Over the coming quarters, we should see some gradual slowdown further as US demand slows. But the impact should be milder than we initially envisaged.”
The latest figures for August add to the picture of fracturing global trade flows after President Donald Trump’s tariffs of 55% on Chinese exports slashed direct demand from the US. By steering exports to markets outside America as import growth stayed weak, China has racked up a trade surplus of just over $785 billion in the first eight months of the year, almost a third more than during the same period of 2024.