China’s foreign investments are up and its exports have risen year on year in January 2017 [Xinhua]China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Friday reported that exports in January surged 7.9 per cent year on year, beating forecasts and suggesting the economy may be steadily back on track.
The preliminary figures mark a reversal of December’s downward trend when the GAC reported that exports had fallen 6.1 per cent.
The GAC says that the surge is the greatest in two years. In dollar terms, it says, Chinese exports to the US grew by 9 per cent.
A final report for the period is expected on February 23.
The rise in Chinese imports also signals that global demand for commodities may be on the rise also indicative of better health in the global economy.
Imports also beat forecasts coming rising by 16.7 per cent in January.
This meant that China’s trade surplus jumped to $51.53 billion from December’s $40.71 billion.
Trade relations between China and the US are likely to be the focus of the White House now that temsions over the One China policy appear to have eased following President Donald Trump’s assurance to uphold it when he called President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
During a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Washington on Friday, Trump said that he wanted the dollar, yen, and yuan to be on a “level playing field”.
Last week, Trump accused China and Japan of manipulating their currencies to gain a trade advantage with the US.
Both countries denied the claims.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
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