China Posts Record Trade Surplus ，$873 billion，for 2022 Despite Slowing Demand

[beijingwalker]

Japan surely amassed some overseas assets, but with this speed of rising trade deficit, they will be exhausted very soon, they better save some money for the bleak future

 

[Mista]

Japan surely amassed some overseas assets, but with this speed of rising trade deficit, they will be exhausted very soon, they better save some money for the bleak future

Wow, so concerned. Like how soon? You aren't saying this because you hate them?

There are 100+ economies smaller than Japan which record current account deficits annually, and most of them didn't collapse. Not to mention Japan still recorded 2% current surplus in 2022, the so called 'worst' year in many years lol.

 

[beijingwalker]

Wow, so concerned. Like how soon? You aren't saying this because you hate them?

There are 100+ economies smaller than Japan which record current account deficits annually, and most of them didn't collapse. Not to mention Japan still recorded 2% current surplus in 2022, the so called 'worst' year in many years lol.

I also like to see how their assets will run out down this fast rising trade deficit path, I would say within 5 years, how long would you think? their last stronghold is car industry, but even that now is being seriously challenged by the newcomers.

 

[Mista]

I also like to see how their assets will run out down this fast rising trade deficit path, I would say within 5 years, how long would you think? their last stronghold is car industry, but even that now is being seriously challenged by the newcomers.

Rather than trade balance, the more important measure is current account balance which take into account foreign MNCs' profit. That is why IMF measures current account balance rather than trade balance when looking at a country's external balances. You can export an Apple or Tesla product to a third country, but the profits don't belong to you. Probably the reason why China has $800bil+ trade surplus but the current account surplus is only $400bil+.

It's similar for Singapore. Our trade surplus (goods and services) in 2022 is around SGD233bil (~USD175bil), but our current account surplus is much lower at SGD124bil (~USD93bil). I always look at current account balance rather than trade balance for my own country.

https://tablebuilder.singstat.gov.sg/table/TS/M060181

Japan has been running trade deficits occasionally and may have recorded a record trade deficit last year, but despite that they are still recording current account surpluses. A large amount of the trade surpluses recorded in China or ASEAN are actually accrued to Japan, and their primary income (~35.31tril yen) is more than twice of their trade deficit (15.78tril yen).

Japan's current account surplus halves to 8-yr low in 2022

Japan's current account surplus nearly halved in 2022 from a year earlier to 11.44 trillion yen ($87 billion), its lowest in eight years, weighed down by a record trade deficit caused by swelling imports and a weakening yen, the Finance Ministry says.

english.kyodonews.net

But oh well, I don't think you're interested in what I've explained. As seen from your 99th thread on Japan's trade deficit, you are just taking the opportunity to bash Japan and gloat.

 

[beijingwalker]

But oh well, I don't think you're interested in what I've explained. As seen from your 99th thread on Japan's trade deficit, you are just taking the opportunity to bash Japan and gloat.

You mean Japan's debt and deficit ridden economy is ok and they should not worry about their future? But Japanese themselves are mostly pretty pessimistic, you should write more to cheer them up a bit.

Survey Finds Young Japanese Have More Pessimistic Outlook than Peers in Other Countries

A recent survey conducted by the Nippon Foundation found that Japanese teenagers had a far from rosy view of their country’s future.

www.nippon.com

 

[mike2000 is back]

Dholera is the home of Foxconn-Vedanta’s $20 billion semiconductor fabrication plant

https://twitter.com/x/status/1613766043293618176

Taiwan’s PSMC might partner with India to help set up semiconductor fabs

Having experience in setting up factories in joint ventures with mainland China, PSMC might assist Indian and large local companies such as Vedanta or Tata in setting up factories and training talent for fabs.

www.google.com

Dholera, Gujarat's futuristic greenfield city in making — from solar park to Make in India chip hub

A pet project of PM Modi, Dholera smart city has been shaping up at some speed. The first phase, spread over 22.5 sq km, is expected to be completed by 2025-26, officials say.

theprint.in

Apple Partners With Sunny Opotech for $300 Million Camera Module Factory in India - News18

Sunny Opotech will begin manufacturing exclusively for Apple in 2024, following initial product testing in China.

www.google.com

That vendetta company doesn't sound like a company that can undertake such a big investment. To be honest, I don't see this deal materialising at all, much less in 1month.

 

[mike2000 is back]

You mean Japan's debt and deficit ridden economy is ok and they should not worry about their future? But Japanese themselves are mostly pretty pessimistic, you should write more to cheer them up a bit.

Survey Finds Young Japanese Have More Pessimistic Outlook than Peers in Other Countries

A recent survey conducted by the Nippon Foundation found that Japanese teenagers had a far from rosy view of their country’s future.

www.nippon.com

Im not sure if you deliberately ignored everything else he said. In short a significant amount of the foreign surplus China accrues is due foreign companies merely producing their goods in China and then exporting it abroad to make even more profit. In fact even Vietnam also enjoys a trade surplus due to Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese and Western companies moving their factories to Vietnam and exporting from there for more profits. Does that make Vietnam better than these countries? Its similar to China emerging as so called largest car exporter after Japan, meanwhile most of those exports are not even Chinese brands, but foriegn brands just making their cars in China and exporting them from China for more profit and revenue. It would have been much more significant if they were Chinese companies making chinese brands and exporting them abroad. Its like say if tomorrow BYD set up its plants and factories in India or US and start exporting them from there to the world, and the US and India start claiming they are better than China simply because they are exporting more Chinese car brands than China. Lol
So i think what @Mista was saying the best measure is to look at the cureent account balance since it measures what foreign multinational companies make as profit from their brands exporting from China or singapore or Indonesia etc, since that is much more accurate if you want to look at it from that countries own internal point of view.

 

[Mista]

Im not sure if you deliberately ignored everything else he said. In short a significant amount of the foreign surplus China accrues is due foreign companies merely producing their goods in China and then exporting it abroad to make even more profit. In fact even Vietnam also enjoys a trade surplus due to Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese and Western companies moving their factories to Vietnam and exporting from there for more profits. Does that make Vietnam better than these countries? Its similar to China emerging as so called largest car exporter after Japan, meanwhile most of those exports are not even Chinese brands, but foriegn brands just making their cars in China and exporting them from China for more profit and revenue. It would have been much more significant if they were Chinese companies making chinese brands and exporting them abroad. Its like say if tomorrow BYD set up its plants and factories in India or US and start exporting them from there to the world, and the US and India start claiming they are better than China simply because they are exporting more Chinese car brands than China. Lol
So i think what @Mista was saying the best measure is to look at the cureent account balance since it measures what foreign multinational companies make as profit from their brands exporting from China or singapore or Indonesia etc, since that is much more accurate if you want to look at it from that countries own internal point of view.

You know, he doesn't care about the technicalities.

You tell him that Japan is recording a current account surplus despite the trade deficit, he continues to tell you that Japan is incurring a trade deficit and will run out of assets in 5 years lol. Forget that Japan is still recording a current account surplus at 2%+ of GDP (similar to China), even if Japan records a current account deficit, so what? There are 100+ smaller countries recording current deficits every year and are still doing fine. He then deflects and changes to talk about Japan's government deficit/debt, a different concept and an irrelevant point to the discussion.

He's just trying to take any opportunity to bash Japan and doing some mental gymnastics imagining Japan will soon fall because of some trade deficit. Look at the threads he created and you can roughly tell his character.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Its similar to China emerging as so called largest car exporter after Japan, meanwhile most of those exports are not even Chinese brands, but foriegn brands just making their cars in China and exporting them from China for more profit and revenue. It would have been much more significant if they were Chinese companies making chinese brands and exporting them abroad.

Exactly! Is this supposed to be some proud moment for say Vietnam if every single car company on the planet moved their production there...and the majority of the cars exported were foreign brands?

You could even claim some kind of colonialism is at play here.

 

[beijingwalker]

Im not sure if you deliberately ignored everything else he said. In short a significant amount of the foreign surplus China accrues is due foreign companies merely producing their goods in China and then exporting it abroad to make even more profit. In fact even Vietnam also enjoys a trade surplus due to Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese and Western companies moving their factories to Vietnam and exporting from there for more profits. Does that make Vietnam better than these countries? Its similar to China emerging as so called largest car exporter after Japan, meanwhile most of those exports are not even Chinese brands, but foriegn brands just making their cars in China and exporting them from China for more profit and revenue. It would have been much more significant if they were Chinese companies making chinese brands and exporting them abroad. Its like say if tomorrow BYD set up its plants and factories in India or US and start exporting them from there to the world, and the US and India start claiming they are better than China simply because they are exporting more Chinese car brands than China. Lol
So i think what @Mista was saying the best measure is to look at the cureent account balance since it measures what foreign multinational companies make as profit from their brands exporting from China or singapore or Indonesia etc, since that is much more accurate if you want to look at it from that countries own internal point of view.

Did I say Japan will collapse overnight or anything? what do you exactly want to say? this thread is about China's record surplus, there's another thread about Japan's record deficit, it's just a news piece, no one said Japan will collapse soon, so I don't know what you guys brought that here for.

 

[huanghong]

Im not sure if you deliberately ignored everything else he said. In short a significant amount of the foreign surplus China accrues is due foreign companies merely producing their goods in China and then exporting it abroad to make even more profit. In fact even Vietnam also enjoys a trade surplus due to Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese and Western companies moving their factories to Vietnam and exporting from there for more profits. Does that make Vietnam better than these countries? Its similar to China emerging as so called largest car exporter after Japan, meanwhile most of those exports are not even Chinese brands, but foriegn brands just making their cars in China and exporting them from China for more profit and revenue. It would have been much more significant if they were Chinese companies making chinese brands and exporting them abroad. Its like say if tomorrow BYD set up its plants and factories in India or US and start exporting them from there to the world, and the US and India start claiming they are better than China simply because they are exporting more Chinese car brands than China. Lol
So i think what @Mista was saying the best measure is to look at the cureent account balance since it measures what foreign multinational companies make as profit from their brands exporting from China or singapore or Indonesia etc, since that is much more accurate if you want to look at it from that countries own internal point of view.

Where can I see the data of China's export cars? What is the basis for most exports not even being Chinese brands? At present, the top exporter I have found is SAIC MG's 480,000, which is a Chinese brand.

 

[beijingwalker]

Analysis Of China's Colossal $878 Billion Trade Surplus​

Why *everything* is Made In China​

SHIVANI

2023年5月16日

As one of the world's largest economies, China has become a major player in global trade. Today we’re taking a deeper look at China’s colossal $878 billion trade surplus.

Trade balances

A country’s trade balance represents the difference in its exports and imports of goods and services.​

• A trade surplus is a positive trade balance, where exports > imports.
• A trade deficit is a negative trade balance, where imports > exports.

Let’s take a look at trade balances around the world.


China was the clear leader in trade in 2021, with a $463 billion trade surplus. Meanwhile, the USA has the largest trade deficit worldwide at -$845 billion. Furthermore, the USA’s trade deficit is over 10 times the size of the next-largest trade deficit, belonging to India. That’s a lot of debt!

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China everyone else​

So whats behind China’s huge trade surplus, and the USA’s even huger trade deficit?

In 2022, China’s imports totalled $2.71 trillion, and exports $3.59 trillion, leaving it a hefty $878 billion trade surplus.

It’s no surprise that the USA is China’s largest customer, importing $582 billion worth of goods and services from China in 2022.

The chart below shows China’s other global partners for imports and exports.


Thank you to our friends at Visual Capitalist for the inspiration for this design!

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Why is everything made in China?​

China’s extensive infrastructure, including a robust supply chain and specialised labour force, make it an ideal location for producing goods quickly and efficiently. With a large population and low labour costs, China is the global epicentre of manufacturing, appealing to companies looking to cut costs and boost profits.

Additionally, the Chinese government has implemented policies to encourage foreign investment and manufacturing, such as tax incentives for companies that set up operations in the country.

Many large companies, including Apple and Tesla, rely heavily on China to support their manufacturing.

China and the European Union​

The European Union (EU) is one of China's most significant trading partners.

China’s main exports to the EU comprise telecommunications equipment, machinery and electronic equipment.


On the other hand, China’s imports from the EU include motor vehicles and parts, electronic equipment and medications.


China's trade surplus with the EU has also been a subject of concern, due to the trade balance consistently skewing in China’s favour. To mitigate this, the EU and China negotiated the EU China comprehensive agreement on investment (CAI) in 2020, with the aim of creating a level playing field. Despite seven years in the making, the CAI was scrapped a mere 5 months following its negotiation.

Overall, as China’s trade surplus continues to boom, the country’s dominance in global manufacturing is showing no sign of slowing down.

Analysis Of China's Colossal $878 Billion Trade Surplus

Analysis Of China's Colossal $878 Billion Trade Surplus Why *everything* is Made In China SHIVANI 2023年5月16日 As one of the world's largest economies, China has become a major player in global trade. Today we’re taking a deeper look at China’s colossal $878 billion trade surplus. Trade...

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