China takes advantage of the US recovery – The World

Le Monde | 08/03/2015 at 2:04 p.m. • Updated 08/03/2015 at 15h13 | By Harold Thibault (Shanghai, correspondence)

China’s trade surplus reached a record high in February 2015, reflecting the improvement in demand for its major partners and the fall in the price of oil, but also the slowdown in domestic consumption.

The surplus of foreign trade of the “workshop of the world” has reached $ 60.6 billion (55.8 billion euros) in the second months of the year, according to published data, Sunday, March 8, by China Customs.

China’s exports surged 48.9% in February compared to the same month last year to reach $ 169 billion, and then they had suffered a contraction of 3.2% in January.

calendar Effect

This progression is primarily related to the calendar. The Lunar New Year fell on February 19 this year, so that Chinese factories have strongly worked upstream of the week off, during which the economy slows, while the festival was held at the end of January last year

Even despite this basic fact, sales of China to the world record real progress. They earn 15% in the months of January and February combined. The recovery in America is a major source of demand, China’s shipments to the US rising by 21% over the first two months of the year. They earn 13% to Europe.

“Exports continue to provide welcome support to growth, at a time when domestic demand is sluggish,” finds Louis Kuijs, an economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland on China, in a written Sunday note.

For the Chinese imports decreased by 20.5% year on year in February, continuing the trend after the 19.9% ​​drop recorded in January. The lower price of oil in recent months is an important explanatory factor, but it is not the only one.

Home Demance weakened

The application Chinese domestic is actually affected by the slowdown in growth. Having found an increase of 7.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) of the second economy in the world throughout 2014, below the established goal, Chinese leaders announced Thursday 5 March they were designed around 7% growth for China’s economy in 2015.

Among the targets presented at the annual session of the National People’s Congress, currently underway, the Prime Minister, Li Keqiang, also said China expected a 6% growth in foreign trade this year.

The goal of a 7% increase in the aggregate volume of imports and exports had not achieved in 2014, China’s trade with the rest of the world earning only 3.4% throughout the year.