China’s trade surplus surged to a record $49.8 billion in August, figures showed Monday, as imports saw a surprising fall and export growth slowed in a further sign of softness in the world’s second-largest economy.
Imports declined 2.4 per cent year-on-year to $158.6bn, while exports increased 9.4pc to $208.5bn.
The drop in imports was greater than July’s 1.6pc fall and missed the median forecast of a 2.7pc increase in a Wall Street Journal survey.
Exports beat estimates of a 9.2pc increase but were still well down from the 14.5pc rise seen in the previous month.
As a result, the surplus surged 77.8pc year-on-year to beat the previous all-time high of $47.3bn set in July and easily pass the median forecast of $42bn.
