China’s trade growth accelerated last month, but data showing imports fell short of analysts’ expectations will likely add to calls for Beijing to rebalance its economy ahead of a high-stakes leaders summit with the US this month. The latest figures were largely powered by demand for tech goods — semiconductor exports rose 130% year-on-year — but the “divergence” between foreign sales and domestic consumption “appears to have continued,” ING’s China chief economist wrote.
The data, combined with recent US tariffs and the potential for further measures tied to Beijing’s trade with Tehran, could pile further pressure on the superpowers’ ties: “At a time of fragile truce,” a leading US scholar of China said, “below the surface, competition continues to be fairly intense.”