China's January trade data was scheduled to be released on Friday (07.02.2020), but will be announced alongside the February numbers, according to the customs administration.
Combining the releases will bring trade data in line with data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, which combines January and February, according to a statement issued on Friday. February issues are due on March 7 and the change was not announced in advance.
The statistics bureau releases an aggregate of January and February industrial output, retail sales and other indicators in a bid to smooth out volatility caused by the Lunar New Year holiday. Many Chinese businesses close during the holiday, which falls at a different time each year, affecting consumption, production and other economic activities at an irregular interval.
Economists expect January exports to fall 4,2%, while imports will drop 5,8%, due to the new year, which fell on January 25. The worsening coronavirus outbreak in China forced authorities to extend the holiday into February, keeping factories closed for longer and likely to affect trade this month as well.
«The delay could be due to shipping disruptions caused by the coronavirus, in addition to holiday factors.“We are looking at a lot of the data that we are seeing,” said Michelle Lam, a China economist at Societe Generale SA in Hong Kong. Announcing the January and February data together would allow for a more meaningful reading, especially since there was unlikely to be any significant impact of the coronavirus on trade in January, she said.
Fountain. Bloomberg
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