China’s Trade Surplus Surges to New Heights

Beijing has particularly focused on developing globally competitive manufacturing industries while importing mostly raw materials, so as to create as many well-paid jobs as possible within China’s borders. The government has also focused during the pandemic on helping Chinese companies become more competitive, while avoiding subsidies for consumers.

By contrast, governments in the West have put more emphasis on providing direct subsidies to consumers, who have used part of the money to buy more manufactured goods from China.

Chinese officials on Friday applauded the latest trade data, saying that it fulfilled the country’s goals. “In general, the 14th Five-Year Plan foreign trade has achieved a good start,” Li Kuiwen, the director of the Statistics and Analysis Department of China’s General Administration of Customs, said at a news conference in Beijing.

At the same time, a widening trade deficit with China has become a serious drag on growth in the United States and the European Union and has become a source of political friction.

Nearly half of China’s trade surplus in December was with the United States. The bilateral imbalance in December was $39.2 billion, slightly trailing the previous record of $42 billion, set in September.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/14/business/china-trade-surplus.html