China's exports to the United States fell 35% in May from a year earlier, new customs data show, adding to pressure on the world's second largest economy as a new round of trade talks with Washington was due to start later Monday in London.
China's total exports rose 4.8% last month, slowing from an 8.1% year-on-year increase in April. Imports declined 3.4% year-on-year, leaving a trade surplus of $103.2 billion.
China exported $28.8 billion to the United States in May, compared with $44 billion a year earlier. Its imports from the U.S. fell to $10.8 billion, the report said.
Still, exports to Southeast Asia and the European Union remained robust, growing 14.8% and 12%, year-on-year. Exports to Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia were sharply higher, and exports to Germany jumped more than 12%.
''The acceleration of exports to other economies has helped China's exports to remain relatively buoyant in the face of the trade war,'' Lynne Song of ING Economics said in a commentary.
Many businesses had rushed orders earlier in the year to try to beat higher tariffs. Once new import duties took effect, shipments slowed. Exports will likely rebound somewhat in June thanks to a 90-day suspension of most of the tariffs China and the U.S. imposed on each other in their escalating trade war, Zichun Huang of Capital Economics said in a report.
''But with tariffs likely to remain elevated and Chinese manufacturers facing broader constraints on their ability to sustain rapid gains in global market share, we think export growth will slow further by year-end,'' Huang said.
Despite the tariffs truce, rancor between Beijing and Washington has persisted, with angry exchanges over advanced semiconductors, ''rare earths'' that are vital to many industries and visas for Chinese students at American universities.
