Opinion: Exports Will Remain a Big Drag on China’s Growth

By Jing Wang, Harrington Zhang, Hannah Liu and Ting Lu

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A cargo ship sets out with a full load of containers on July 16 at the Port of Lianyungang in East China’s Jiangsu province. Photo: VCG

July trade data once again fell short of market expectations, particularly in terms of imports.

Export growth in dollar terms dropped to -14.5% year-on-year in July from -12.4% in June, while import growth fell notably to -12.4% from -6.8%. Both readings were worse than market expectations (-13.2% for exports and -5.6% for imports).

The trade balance was the only positive print, rising to $80 billion in July from $71 billion in June, mainly because imports deteriorated more sharply than exports.