China’s exports unexpectedly shrink in October, badly missing expectations for growth

A cargo ship carrying containers is seen near the Yantian port in Shenzhen, following the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, Guangdong province, China May 17, 2020.

China's exports fell in October from a year ago, missing expectations.

The decline in U.S.-dollar terms last month marked a sharp decline from a 5.7% year-on-year increase in September and the first year-on-year decline since May 2020.

In October, imports fell by 0.7% in U.S. dollar terms, missing expectations for slight growth of 0.1% and down from a 0.3% increase in September

On a year-to-date basis, China's trade with countries and regions was only available in the Chinese currency, renminbi. The U.S. was China's largest trading partner on a single country basis.

Chinese exports to the U.S. slowed to an 8.4% pace over the course of the year. As of October, imports from the U.S. grew at a faster rate than the previous month.

The Chinese Communist Party's twice-a-decade congress was marked last month by ongoing Covid controls.

Last week,Barclays cut its forecast for China's economic growth next year on the expectation that falling demand from the U.S. and EU would lead to a drop in China's exports.

There has been an increase in the likelihood of an economic downturn in the EU and the U.S. Tech companies in the US have recently announced layoffs and other cost-cutting measures.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has made the dollar stronger against other currency. The Chinese currency weakened against the US dollar in October.

In Chinese currency terms, exports and imports both increased.