China GDP

China Trade Surplus $22.3 billion in June

China's trade surplus ballooned:

Exports hit a record high of $162 billion in June, while imports for the month were $139.7 billion. That left the country with a trade surplus of $22.3 billion in June, compared with $13.1 billion in May.

What is more frightening is how Reuters words their report. Because China once again dominates trade with exports, Reuters tries to claim their economy is softening. This is because China's imports were way below expectations, but imports do not imply weak China domestic consumer demand. Why? Unlike the U.S., Consumer spending is only about 35% of China's GDP. They save and invest, not spend money buying imports.

Therefore, a slowing of imports does not mean China's economy is slowing as it would the United States, if anyone bothered to read the basic GDP equation. China's GDP was 9.7% in Q1 2011.

China GDP 11.9% for Q1 2010

So much for the claim currency manipulation has nothing to do with China's economy, it grew by an astounding 11.9% in Q1 2010 and exports jumped 29%. Bloomberg has more details.

Consumer prices rose 2.4 percent in March from a year earlier, today’s data showed, compared with 2.7 percent in February. Economists’ median estimate was 2.6 percent.

Industrial production climbed 18.1 percent in March, less than a 20.7 percent gain in the first two months, and retail sales increased 18 percent, today’s data showed. Car sales leapt 76 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, with Mercedes-Benz (China) Ltd. reporting a doubling.