China's exports and imports drop again in September

cnbc.com:

BEIJING — China reported a smaller-than-expected decline in exports in September from a year ago, while imports missed, according to customs data released Friday.

In U.S.-dollar terms, exports fell by 6.2% last month from a year ago. That's less than the 7.6% drop forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.

Imports also fell by 6.2% in U.S.-dollar terms in September compared to a year ago — slightly more than the 6% decline expected by the Reuters poll.

China's exports have fallen on a year-on-year basis every month this year starting in May. The last positive print for imports on a year-on-year basis was in September last year.

China's trade slumped this year amid lackluster global demand for Chinese good and muted domestic demand.

Bucking the decline in trade with major trading partners were Chinese imports from the European Union, up modestly in September from a year ago, according to CNBC calculations of the official data.

The U.S. is China's largest trading partner on a single-country basis, while the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has recently surpassed the EU as China's largest trading partner on a regional basis.

For the first three quarters of the year, China's exports to the U.S. fell by 16.4%, while imports dropped by 6% during that time.

Russia was the only major country or region in the Chinese customs agency's report that showed growth in both exports and imports for the first three quarters of the year from a year ago.

By product category, China's global export of autos remained the fastest growing, up on a unit basis by 64.4% from a year ago for the first three quarters of 2023. That's slower than the 69% pace for the year recorded as of August.

China's exports of ships and boats for the year picked