Both imports and exports have returned to growth for China, as new statistics for the month of April suggest an increase in both foreign and domestic demand for the country’s products.

Reuters reports that both imports and exports increased, in a sign of growing demand in China, following a range of measures from the government aimed at boosting consumer confidence.

Exports grow

Shipments of exported goods grew 1.5%, according to customs data published today (9 May).

It follows a 7.5% contraction in shipments in March, the first contraction since November.

Imports grew 8.4%, beating a prediction from economic analysts of 5% and overhauling a 1.9% decrease in March. It comes after renewed focus on high-tech manufacturing from the Chinese leadership.

The Chinese government’s GDP target of 5% matches last year’s but has been described by some analysts as ambitious.

‘Mainly due to a lower base’

China economist at Capital Economics, Huang Zichun, told Reuters that "export values returned to growth from contraction last month, but this was mainly due to a lower base for comparison.

"After accounting for changes in export prices and for seasonality, we estimate that export volumes remained broadly unchanged from March.”

The FT notes that the government has recently increased support for factories to upgrade their equipment, as well as for consumers to buy new manufactured appliances.

It comes as some in the EU and US have accused China of unfair practices, including subsidies, that have allowed it to undercut the prices of suppliers in those regions of products including electric vehicles (EVs).

As reported by the IOE&IT Daily Update yesterday (8 May), European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen vowed to “make full use of our trade defence instruments” to defend European industry “if this is necessary”.

Lammy on China

UK shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, was in the US yesterday, delivering a speech at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington DC.

There, he said that a Labour government would launch a “comprehensive audit of UK-China relations on entering office”, examining the “vulnerabilities and the yard around which we must erect a much higher fence”.

The Covid-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine had “demonstrated the risk of supply chains over-reliant on China and those driven only by economic efficiency”, Lammy suggested. A Labour government would, he added, place “much greater weight on the resilience of our economic relationships.”