MNI 5 THINGS: China Jul Trade Data Likely To Show Import Surge

     BEIJING (MNI) - China's General Administration of Customs will publish July

trade statistics on Wednesday. Below are five things to note ahead of the

release:

     - Exports will have continued to expand on a year-on-year basis, but the

pace of growth likely slowed in July, as a high base of comparison last year, as

well as the uncertainties generated by ongoing China-US trade frictions, serve

to limit gains. MNI's poll of analysts suggests that exports will have risen by

10.1% y/y in July.

     - Imports, meanwhile, may register a faster annual pace of growth in July

(following 14.1% in June), bolstered by tariff cuts for autos and consumer

goods, which were introduced on July 1 as part of Beijing's efforts to expand

imports into China and further open up the economy.

     - The data on bilateral trade with the U.S. will be keenly eyed given that

Washington implemented its first round of tariffs on July 6, targeting $34

million worth of Chinese exports.

     - China is seeking to diversify its trade partners in order to expand its

exports and imports, in part to offset some of the loss caused by the ongoing

trade spat with the U.S. Some emerging economies are a particular focus in this

regard.

     - Autos and auto parts imports may show especially strong gains -- auto

tariffs were cut from between 20-25% to 15% on July 1, while those for auto

parts were cut from between 8-25% to 6%.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; tel: +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: flora.guo@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; +44 207-862-7489; email: ukeditorial@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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