New data released by China’s custom officials have indicated that the country’s exports in November rose 21.1% year-on-year, the fastest rate in almost three years.
Imports rose 4.5%, and the country’s foreign trade went up overall by 13.6%, with the trade surplus rising to $62.2 billion, the largest amount since at 1981.
The surge comes as the world’s second-largest economy continues to recover from the dire effects of the coronavirus pandemic, while its foreign competitors are still largely obstructed by anti-virus controls.
Demand for masks and medical equipment around the world is one factor driving the surge, along with an increase in demand for consumer electronics as many families remain largely confined to their homes amid widespread lockdowns.
Chinese manufacturers have also benefited from the loans granted by the government to help cope with pandemic fallout since factories restarted operations in March.
China is expected to be the only major world economy to grow this year with experts projecting a growth of 2-2.2%.
However, the future of China’s economic relationship with the US remains uncertain after a two-year trade war between the two largest economies.
Meanwhile, China released the data amid reports that the United States is preparing to impose sanctions on at least a dozen Chinese officials over their alleged role in Beijing’s disqualification of elected opposition legislators in Hong Kong.
The move will reportedly target officials from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as President Donald Trump’s administration keeps up pressure on Beijing in his final weeks in office. President-elect Joe Biden takes over on January 20.
A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said multiple individuals would be sanctioned including officials from Hong Kong as well as the mainland.
China has always firmly opposed and strongly condemned U.S. interference in China’s domestic affairs through the Hong Kong issue,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying told a news briefing in Beijing in response to a question by reporters about the sactions.
In October, the U.S. State Department warned international financial institutions doing business with individuals deemed responsible for China’s crackdown in the Asian financial market that they could soon face tough sanctions.
Washington has already put sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, the current and former police chiefs and other top officials in August for what it said was their role in curtailing freedoms in a crackdown on the territory’s pro-democracy movement.
Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed government expelled four opposition members from its legislature last month after China’s parliament gave city authorities new powers to curb protests. The move triggered mass resignations by pro-democracy opposition lawmakers in the former British colony.
Hong Kong is expected to be one of President-elect Biden’s thorniest challenges with China. The President-elect Joe has yet to specifically outline his stance toward Beijing.
He has however promised to take a tougher line than Trump over human rights in China and other countries, so his response to the crackdown in Hong Kong could be an early test of that resolve.
