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China's General Administration of Customs releases import and export figures for AprilOnlinemobilecasinonodepositbonusExports increased by 1% compared with the same period last yearOnlinemobilecasinonodepositbonus.5%, imports increased by 8%Onlinemobilecasinonodepositbonus.4%, all exceeding expectations. The global manufacturing sector has rebounded, external demand has recovered, ship and car exports have performed strongly, and export growth to ASEAN has remained at a high level.
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According to data released by the General Administration of Customs, China's exports rose 1.5% in April from a year earlier, far exceeding market expectations. ]
On May 9, the General Administration of Customs of China disclosedOnlinemobilecasinonodepositbonusImport and export figures for April. In dollar terms, exports rose 1.5 per cent in April from a year earlier, with the market expecting a decline of 1.1 per cent, compared with a 7.5 per cent drop in March, according to the data. Meanwhile, imports rose 8.4 per cent year-on-year, exceeding expectations of 3.5 per cent, compared with a 1.9 per cent drop in March.
Despite the pressure of a high base and exchange rate depreciation, China's export growth rebounded strongly in April. Dollar-denominated exports rose sharply by 9% in the same month compared with the same period last year, and the two-year compound growth rate was 4.3%, an increase of 3% over the previous month. In addition, the exchange rate of the US dollar against the RMB depreciated to 7.24 from 6.89 in the same period last year, expanding to 5.1 per cent, but export growth remained strong.
High-frequency indicators show that the recent CCFI index and monitoring port container throughput have increased. In April, the CCFI composite index rose 25.4 per cent from a year earlier. In particular, the index of Southeast Asian routes rose 2% month-on-month, which is confirmed by the growth rate of exports to ASEAN. At the same time, the container and cargo throughput of China's monitoring ports increased by 7.9% and 2.7% respectively over the same period last year, an increase of 0.7 and 0.3 percentage points over the previous month.
The rebound in the global manufacturing sector and the sustained recovery in external demand have provided fundamental support for this round of export improvement. In April, global manufacturing PMI was 50.3%, exceeding the rise and fall line for the fourth month in a row. PMI in major emerging economies such as Vietnam, India, Mexico and Brazil are all in an expansion range, with the US ISM manufacturing PMI rising 1.4 percentage points to 49.2 per cent. Driven by external demand, China's exports to ASEAN and the United States increased by 14.4% and 13.1% respectively compared with the previous month.
With the pick-up of global trade and shipping demand, China's ship exports show a trend of "simultaneous rise in volume and price", which has become the biggest pull item among the main export commodities in April. This round of ship demand growth began in early 2023, ahead of supply. In March this year, new orders and completion of global shipbuilding increased by 58.3% and 22.1% respectively compared with the same period last year. Under the mismatch between supply and demand, the price and quantity of China's ship exports rose by 74.5% and 15.4% respectively compared with the same period last year.
The growth rate of China's exports to ASEAN has maintained a high level, and the export of ships and cars has performed strongly. In April, China's exports were 4.3% year-on-year, up 3 percentage points from March. From a regional point of view, exports to the ASEAN region increased by 6.3% compared with the same period last year, and the pull to total exports was 1.1%. Exports to the United States, the European Union and other developed markets also improved, rising 7.2 percentage points and 6.3 percentage points respectively compared with March, and the drag on total exports decreased by 0.9 percentage points.
Exports of mechanical and electrical products have remained resilient, with particularly strong growth in equipment such as cars and ships. In April, mechanical and electrical products accounted for 59.2% of China's total exports, driving export growth of 2.8 percentage points over the same period last year. Of this total, exports driven by cars and ships increased by 3.5% and 1.2% respectively over the same period last year, up 1.1% and 0.6% from March. From the perspective of volume and price disassembly, the growth of major export commodities is mainly driven by the quantity end, and the restriction of price factors has also been alleviated.
The year-on-year decline in China's imports continued to narrow, and imports from Hong Kong, China improved sharply. In April, imports were-0.6% year-on-year, up 1.4 percentage points from March. From a regional point of view, imports from Hong Kong, China increased by 74.9% year-on-year, and the pull to total imports rose to 0.4%. Imports from the United States, the European Union and other regions also improved, with a marginal increase of 7.8% and 3.3% respectively over the same period last year.
Imports of mechanical and electrical products continued to decline compared with the same period last year, while imports of high-tech products returned to positive growth. In April, mechanical and electrical products accounted for 36.9% of China's total imports, and its contribution to import growth rebounded by 1.1 percentage points. Among them, imports such as automatic data processing equipment improved significantly, up 17 percentage points from the same period last year, and the contribution to the total import growth rate increased by 0.4 percentage points. From the point of view of volume and price disassembly, the main imported goods are pulled by the quantity end.
It should be noted that the economic recovery and policy landing may not be as effective as expected, which will have a certain impact on import and export data.