With China's export machine roaring into full swing, and helping mend the coronavirus-fractured global supply chains despite intermittent threats and hostile moves notably by the US and Australia, the country's exports have proven to be a tower of strength with a full-year gain of 3.6 percent in dollar terms over 2020.
The annual growth in exports, far better than initially expected, builds on a solid base for economic growth to be firmly in positive territory over the past year, economists said.
They anticipate the export machine to be exceptionally busy in the first quarter of 2021 as the coming Spring Festival - a traditionally week-long or more national holiday that usually causes a labor shortage - will be different this year due to recent sporadic coronavirus outbreaks prompting many places in China to encourage people not to travel back to hometown and remain at work.
The country's exports in US dollars grew by 18.1 percent year-on-year to $281.93 billion in December. For all of 2020, exports gained 3.6 percent to $2.59 trillion, customs data showed on Thursday.
Imports were up 6.5 percent to $203.75 billion in December and the full-year figure edged down 1.1 percent to $2.06 trillion.
China became the only economy in the world to achieve positive commodity trade growth in 2020, General Administration of Customs Spokesman Li Kuiwen told a press conference on Thursday.
