Wang Tao: Why China’s Export Growth Came in Well Below Market Expectations

Dock workers wait for ships to come in at a foreign trade container terminal at the port of Qingdao in East China’s Shandong province. Photo: VCG

China’s headline export growth decelerated sharply to 7.1% year-on-year in August, from 18% in July, landing well below the expected 13%. Import growth dropped to 0.3% from 2.3% year-on-year growth in July (compared with the expected 1.1% growth). The monthly trade balance narrowed further to $79.4 billion from $101.3 billion in July, as compared with a Bloomberg consensus of $92.7 billion.

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: Wang Tao

Wang Tao is the head of Asia economics and chief China economist of UBS Investment Bank.