MNI 5 THINGS: China Oct Imports Surge; Exports Accelerate

     BEIJING (MNI) - China's General Administration of Customs announced October

trade statistics on Thursday. Below are five highlights from the release:

     - Exports rose by 15.6% y/y to USD217.28 billion, accelerating from

September's 14.5% growth, and beating the 12.0% rise forecast in a MNI survey.

The growth was the second fastest so far this year. Exports for the first ten

months of the year increased by 12.6% y/y to USD2.04 trillion.

     - Imports increased by 21.4% y/y to USD183.27 billion. Growth was up

sharply from last month's 14.3%, and also beat the survey's expectation of

13.8%. Imports for the first ten months were USD1.79 trillion, 20.3% higher than

a year ago.

     - The trade surplus expanded to USD34.02 billion in October from USD31.69

billion last month, the largest in the last four months. The year-to-date

surplus was the smallest in five years at USD254.20 billion.

     - Exports to the U.S. increased by 13.2% y/y to USD42.72 billion. Imports

from the U.S. fell 1.8% y/y to USD10.94 billion. The surplus of USD31.78 billion

narrowed from $34.13 billion in September.

     - China's exports to the EU and Japan gained 14.6% and 8.1% y/y while

imports rose by 12.3% and 11.4%, respectively.

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

--MNI London Bureau; +44208-865-3829; email: Jason.Webb@marketnews.com

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