Guangdong’s Exports Jump in October as Imports Sink
He Leshu | Huang Qiong
DATE:  Dec 01 2022
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Guangdong’s Exports Jump in October as Imports Sink Guangdong’s Exports Jump in October as Imports Sink

(Yicai Global) Dec. 1 -- China’s southern province of Guangdong, a key region of the nation’s foreign trade, saw exports jump in October, while imports sank as sporadic outbreaks of the coronavirus crimped demand at home. 

Guangdong’s international trade rose 7.2 percent in October from a year earlier, according to customs data. Exports surged almost 16.5 percent, the most this year, while imports dropped 8.5 percent.

For the first 10 months of this year, the province’s foreign trade climbed just 1.9 percent from a year ago, with exports gaining 6.8 percent and imports falling 5.9 percent.

Exports are recovering as more countries and regions return to normal both in daily life and industrial production with the pandemic is increasingly under control, Zhang Zhiming, an associate professor at the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, said to Yicai Global. That has resulted in a great surge in demand, driving up Guangdong’s overseas orders, he added.

As overseas consumers go green, demand for environmentally friendly products is surging, benefitting the province’s export business, as major local cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Foshan strive to transform into new energy vehicle manufacturing centers,  Zhang said.

NEVs and related products mainly contributed to the increase in Guangzhou’s exports in the past two or three months.

November Hit

But despite the upbeat October export data, it remains to be seen whether Guangdong’s export growth can be sustained, said Lin Jiang, an economics professor at the Lingnan College of Sun Yat-Sen University.

This is because September, October, and November are usually the peak season for exports to Europe and North America due to major holidays, so any new data needs to be monitored closely, Lin said.

Since many cities in the province had Covid-19 outbreaks last month, greatly impacting supply chains, November’s trade data could be hit, Lin added. 

Still, the main cause of the slump in imports is weak domestic consumption, Lin pointed out, especially of high-end consumer goods as the economic slowdown takes a toll on consumers’ wallets.

Lockdown procedures after Covid-19 outbreaks also contributed to weaker domestic demand, as factories scale down their expectation for growth and in turn reduce orders for raw materials from foreign suppliers, Lin added.

The impact on Guangdong’s foreign trade data of some manufacturing enterprises relocating operations to Southeast Asia also cannot be ignored, he said.

“We need to pay close attention to the changing trend of import data as a continuous slump in imports will eventually have an impact on export data”, Lin warned.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi

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Keywords:   Economic Data,Import,Export,Economic Analysis,Guangdong