China’s top exporting city saw its levels fall in April despite stronger-than-expected national growth, suggesting traders are not yet out of the woods amid tumultuous tariff tensions with the US.
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In the southern metropolis of Shenzhen, the value of exports from local enterprises slipped by 2.9 per cent in April, year on year, to 243.95 billion yuan (US$33.86 billion), according to municipal customs data released on Friday – starkly contrasting the 8.1 per cent growth in exports recorded nationwide last month.
Peng Peng, head of the Guangdong Society of Reform, a think tank affiliated with the provincial government, said Shenzhen’s export performance was “volatile” in the first four months of the year, suggesting that trade remained susceptible to global tensions.
In the first two months of the year, Shenzhen’s exports fell by 16.6 per cent, year on year, before showing signs of a recovery in March with a year-on-year rise of 8.8 per cent.
“As a city with relatively high dependence on foreign trade, Shenzhen’s economy is inevitably facing a degree of unpredictability and limited room for policy manoeuvres,” Peng said.
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Shenzhen, in the provincial economic powerhouse of Guangdong, is often referred to as China’s Silicon Valley – home to some leading tech companies, including telecoms giant Huawei Technologies, electric vehicle producer BYD and drone maker DJI.
The city’s export decline in April was led by an 8.3 per cent drop in general trade, which accounts for the lion’s share of the city’s exports. Export processing, where raw materials are imported for manufacturing and re-export, fell 0.5 per cent, while bonded logistics rose 15.5 per cent, Shenzhen customs data showed.