Chinese exports edge higher for first time in 6 months

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China’s exports rose slightly in November, breaking a six-month run of consecutive declines and giving a boost to policymakers looking to revive a flagging recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.

Exports rose 0.5 per cent year on year in dollar terms, official data showed on Thursday, compared with a forecast 1.1 per cent decline in a Reuters poll of analysts. In October exports dropped 6.4 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier.

Imports, however, fell 0.6 per cent, compared with a forecast 3.3 per cent increase and a 3 per cent bump in October, raising concerns that domestic demand remains weak.

In China’s markets, the uptick in exports was overshadowed by rating agency Moody’s decision to lower the country’s credit rating outlook to negative. Mainland- and Hong Kong-listed shares hit a near-five-year low as the negative outlook weakened investor confidence in China’s prospects for stronger economic growth.

China’s tepid international trade is one of the main sources of pressure for policymakers in Beijing, who are also grappling with a liquidity crisis in the property sector and low domestic consumption since it relaxed Covid-19 restrictions at the end of last year.

Beijing has embarked on a charm offensive since the middle of this year, seeking to mend ties with its principal markets in the US and European Union after foreign investors turned sour on the country.

On Thursday, EU leaders including Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, met President Xi Jinping in an attempt to smooth out growing differences over China’s huge trade surplus with the bloc and European opposition to its tacit support for Russia in the war in Ukraine.

The stronger than expected…