A larger than expected trade surplus for China in May, a combination of

  • higher than expected exports
  • lower than expected imports

Data here: China May trade data

The higher exports is despite trade war escalation. Higher exports being attributed to 'front-loading'. I dunno … if exports beat we get that narrative, if they miss we got 'trade tensions narrative.

Maybe one thing we can agree on is the miss for exports is due to a slowdown in domestic demand.