Export and import growth for China eased in October, suggesting that the world’s second-largest economy is starting to cool after a strong first half. Growth is likely to slow even further due to Beijing’s crackdown on pollution from factory output.
The trade data also showed China’s goods surplus with the United States, which has always been a sore spot in relations between the two nations, narrowed last month as China awaited U.S. President Donald Trump’s arrival in Beijing later in the day.
President Xi Jinping of China is driving broad economic reforms by opening up China’s capital markets, targeting corruption and reducing high levels of debt in an effort to foster sustainable growth.