China's trade surplus narrowed to USD 34.01 billion in October of 2018 from USD 36.89 billion in the same month a year earlier and slightly below market consensus of USD 35 billion. Imports jumped 21.4 percent year-on-year to USD 131.83 billion while exports increased at a slower 15.6 percent to USD 159.72 billion. The trade surplus with the US, China's largest export market, narrowed to USD 31.78 billion in October from a fresh record high of USD 34.13 billion in September. Over the first ten months of the year, the trade surplus came in at USD 258.15 billion. Balance of Trade in China averaged 94.11 USD HML from 1981 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 612.86 USD HML in October of 2015 and a record low of -320.02 USD HML in February of 2012.

Balance of Trade in China is expected to be 560.00 USD HML by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Balance of Trade in China to stand at 190.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the China Balance of Trade is projected to trend around 350.00 USD HML in 2020, according to our econometric models.


Join Trading Economics
Trading Economics provides more than 20 million economic indicators for nearly 200 countries, plus exchange rates, government bond yields, stock indexes, and commodity prices. Subscription users can use a web interface to export data or get it directly through an Excel add-in. Clients can also use an API to have direct access to our data, to query our real-time economic calendar and to subscribe to updates from any programming language.

China Balance of Trade
width
height
 Preview
Forecast Data Chart
Trading Economics members can view, download and compare data from nearly 200 countries, including more than 20 million economic indicators, exchange rates, government bond yields, stock indexes and commodity prices.

The Trading Economics Application Programming Interface (API) provides direct access to our data. It allows API clients to download millions of rows of historical data, to query our real-time economic calendar, subscribe to updates and receive quotes for currencies, commodities, stocks and bonds.

API Features Documentation Interested? Click here to contact us

Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2018-08-08 03:00 AM Balance of Trade $28.05B $41.47B $39.33B $36B
2018-09-08 04:00 AM Balance of Trade $27.91B $28.05B $39.33B $31B
2018-10-12 02:30 AM Balance of Trade $31.69B $27.89B $19.4B $ 27B
2018-11-08 03:00 AM Balance of Trade $34.01B $31.7B $35B $29B
2018-12-07 03:30 AM Balance of Trade $34.01B $15B



China October Trade Surplus Smaller than Expected


China's trade surplus narrowed to USD 34.01 billion in October of 2018 from USD 36.89 billion in the same month a year earlier and slightly below market consensus of USD 35 bilion. Imports jumped 21.4 percent year-on-year to USD 131.83 billion while exports increased at a slower 15.6 percent to USD 159.72 billion.

Imports surged 21.4 percent year-on-year to USD 183.27 billion in October, easily beating market expectations of 14 percent and following a 14.3 percent growth in a month earlier. China's unwrought copper imports jumped 28.2 percent from a year earlier to 423,000 tonnes but slumped 18.7 percent from September's 520,000 tonnes. Also, imports of copper concentrate rose 14.5 percent to 1.57 million tonnes, but dropped 18.7 percent from a month earlier of 1.93 million tonnes. In addition, purchases of iron ore were up 11.2 percent year-on-year to 88.40 million tonnes, but were down 5.4 percent from September's 93.47 million tonnes. Imports of crude oil surged 31.5 percent year-on-year to a record high of 40.8 million tonnes, and rose 9.6 percent from September's 37.21 million tonnes. Arrivals of natural gas grew 25.6 percent year-on-year to 7.30 million tonnes, but fell 4.2 percent from September's 7.62 million tonnes. Meanwhile, imports of soybeans went up 18.1 percent year-on-year to 6.92 million tonnes, but were down 13.6 percent from September's 8.01 million tonnes. Chinese buyers have been scooping up Brazilian beans after Beijing in July imposed a 25 percent tariff on US products worth USD 34 billion, including soybeans. 

Exports rose 15.6 percent to USD 217.28 billion, after a 14.5 percent rise in September. Figure was above market consensus of a 11 percent rise, as firms increased shipments before stiffer US tariffs hit in January 2019. China's unwrought aluminium and aluminium product exports surged 37.7 percent year-on-year to 482,000 tonnes, but were down 3.6 percent month-on-month from a downwardly revised 500,000 tonnes in September. China is the world's top producer of steel and aluminium. The US has imposed tariffs of 25 percent on Chinese steel imports and 10 percent on aluminium imports since March 23rd. However, a lower yuan has helped Chinese metal exports. China's steel product exports went up 10.4 percent year-on-year to 5.50 million tonnes in October and fell 7.6 percent from a revised figure of 5.95 million tonnes in September. Chinese aluminium exports are expected to surge further in coming months after Beijing boosted tax rebates for exports of semi-fabricated aluminium, or semis, to 16 percent from 13 percent with effect from 1st November. Exports of crude oil edged up 0.3 percent year-on-year to 0.14 million tonnes; coal went up 0.1 percent to 0.48 million tonnes; and sales of rice surged 106.1 percent to 187 million tonnes.

The trade surplus with the US, China's largest export market, narrowed to USD 31.78 billion in October from a fresh record high of USD 34.13 billion in September. Exports to the country rose 13.2 percent, while imports contracted 1.8 percent. October was the first full month after the latest US tariffs went into effect. Over the first ten months of the year, the trade surplus with the US widened markedly to USD 258.15 billion from USD 222.98 billion in the same period a year earlier.


In yuan-denominated terms, China's trade surplus came in at CNY 233.63 billion in October, as imports grew at a faster 26.3 percent, while exports went up 20.1 percent.


Rida | rida@tradingeconomics.com
11/8/2018 10:32:54 AM


Recent Releases

China Trade Surplus Largest in 3 Months
China's trade surplus widened to USD 31.69 bilion in September of 2018 from USD 27.38 billion in the same month a year earlier and easily beating market consensus of USD 19.4 bilion. It was the largest trade surplus since June, as exports increased at a faster 14.5 percent year-on-year to USD 226.5 billion, while imports grew by 14.3 percent to USD 189.49 billion.
Published on 2018-10-12

China August Trade Surplus Smaller than Estimated
China's trade surplus narrowed sharply to USD 27.91 billion in August of 2018 from USD 40.05 billion in the same month a year earlier and missing market consensus of USD 39.3 billion. Imports jumped 20 percent to USD 185.56 billion while exports rose at a softer 9.8 percent to USD 210.08 billion.
Published on 2018-09-10

China July Trade Surplus Smaller than Expected
China's trade surplus narrowed sharply to USD 28.05 bilion in July 2018 from USD 44.85 billion in the same month a year earlier and far below market consensus of USD 39.33 bilion. Imports jumped 27.3 percent to a near record high while exports rose at a softer 12.2 percent.
Published on 2018-08-08

China June Trade Surplus Larger than Expected
China's trade surplus narrowed to USD 41.61 billion in June 2018 from USD 42.79 billion in the same month a year earlier. The surplus came in well above market consensus of USD 27.9 billion, as exporters were rushing shipments before US tariffs went into effect.
Published on 2018-07-13



China Trade Last Previous Highest Lowest Unit
Balance of Trade 340.16 317.02 612.86 -320.02 USD HML [+]
Exports 2172.83 2266.87 2315.23 12.50 USD HML [+]
Imports 1832.67 1949.84 1949.84 13.88 USD HML [+]
Current Account 160.00 53.29 1330.85 -341.00 USD HML [+]
Current Account to GDP 1.30 1.80 10.10 -3.70 percent [+]
External Debt 17106.00 14206.57 17799.32 158.28 USD HML [+]
Terms of Trade 98.39 94.48 118.33 81.75 Index Points [+]
Foreign Direct Investment 1076.60 917.70 1310.35 18.32 USD HML [+]
Capital Flows -160.00 60.00 725.40 -1305.58 USD HML [+]
Tourist Arrivals 2917.00 2815.12 2917.00 22.96 Tens of Thousands [+]
Gold Reserves 1842.60 1842.60 1842.60 395.01 Tonnes [+]
Crude Oil Production 3732.00 3857.00 4408.00 1012.00 BBL/D/1K [+]
Terrorism Index 5.54 6.11 6.29 1.47 [+]
Weapons Sales 1131.00 2192.00 2606.00 3.00 USD Million [+]

Exports by Country  |   Exports by Category  |   Imports by Country  |   Imports by Category



China Balance of Trade

Since 1995, China has been recording consistent trade surpluses which from 2004 to 2009 has increased 10 times. In 2017, China’s total trade incensed by 14.2 percent as exports grew 10.8 percent and imports rose 18.7 percent. The biggest trade surpluses were recorded with Hong Kong, the US, the Netherlands, India, the UK, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia. China recorded trade deficits with Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, Germany, Brazil and South Africa. This page provides - China Balance of Trade - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. China Balance of Trade - actual data, historical chart and calendar of releases - was last updated on November of 2018.

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
340.16 317.02 612.86 -320.02 1981 - 2018 USD HML Monthly
Current Prices, NSA




Country Last
Argentina 314.00 Sep/18
Australia 3017.00 Sep/18
Brazil 6121.36 Oct/18
Canada -416.30 Sep/18
China 340.16 Oct/18
Euro Area 13141.70 Sep/18
France -5663.00 Sep/18
Germany 18395.00 Sep/18
India -17130.00 Oct/18
Indonesia -1819.90 Oct/18
Italy 1274.37 Sep/18
Japan -449.26 Oct/18
Mexico -194.00 Sep/18
Netherlands 4949.00 Sep/18
Russia 18485.00 Sep/18
Saudi Arabia 162782.00 Jun/18
Singapore 4520.91 Oct/18
South Africa -2950.00 Sep/18
South Korea 6552.00 Oct/18
Spain -3297100.00 Sep/18
Switzerland 2637.00 Oct/18
Turkey -1869.47 Sep/18
United Kingdom -27.00 Sep/18
United States -54019.00 Sep/18


Related
Latest