China Posts Trade Blip, Soft Credit as Upbeat GDP Report Awaited
- Seasonal effects drive rare trade deficit as exports slump
- Risk campaign curbs credit growth; 1Q GDP due Tuesday
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China’s overseas shipments posted a decline on seasonal effects around the Lunar New Year holiday, and credit growth slowed -- two final data points for a first quarter that’s expected to show a pace of expansion matching that at the end of 2017.
Trade disputes have been escalating as President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on some $150 billion of imports from China, and Beijing announced potential retaliation, though those tensions haven’t been decisive for businesses yet. And even as a push to curb excess credit digs in, economists estimate that the economy expanded at 6.8 percent in the first quarter.