At the end of H1 2010, it seems as if China is on track to exceed its record export totals of 2008, a year which witnessed China sending an immense USD 1.4 trillion worth of goods overseas. By the end of the first six months of 2010, China’s export totals had reached USD 705 billion. Given the seasonal downturn during February for the Chinese New Year, and the fact that the peak months for trade—August through September—are just beginning, China appears destined to exceed the mark set two years before. June’s exports of USD 137 billion were above that of any month during 2008. Combined imports and exports for China through June equaled USD 1.35 trillion; this six month total is greater than that achieved during the first eight months of 2009.
A comparatively slow year for trade, 2009 has magnified the potentially-record breaking totals of 2010. Exports were up 86% y-o-y this January, as international trade was nearly at a standstill the year before in the midst of the global recession. In June 2010, exports and imports were up 43.9% and 34.1%, respectively. These y-o-y monthly increases may diminish to around 20% in H2 2010, a level more typical of China’s trade activity in recent years, due to the resumption of more normalised import and export totals during July to December the year before.
China’s general trade—the exchange of finished goods—comprised the greatest share of its shipments to and from overseas partners. Second to this was processing trade with imported material at 31.5% of total trade, with China more often the processor of imported material rather than the recipient of processed material.