Earlier trade data from China:
- China full year (2018) trade balance data
- China Customs Bureau says trade growth may slow in 2019
- China's trade surplus with the US in 2018 was the highest on record
December 2018 data now:
Yuan terms
- China trade balance comes in at CNY 395bn, expected CNY 345bn, prior was CNY 306bn
- Exports 0.2% y/y, expected 6.6%, prior was 10.2%... BIG MISS
- Imports -3.1% y/y, expected 12.0%, prior was 7.8% … even bigger miss
USD terms
- China trade balance USD 57.06bn, expected $51.6bn, prior was $44.7bn
- Exports -4.4% y/y, expected 2.0%, prior 5.4%
- Imports -7.6% y/y, expected 4.5%, prior was 3.0%
AUD is trading lower after the trade data from China
The export figures are a focus and they are poor indeed. But save some space in the barf bag for the import results, they are terrible - huge miss on these. Demand in China has been showing evidence of slowing … this is a nail in the coffin.
