TRADE between China and the US rose sharply in April from the month prior amid the Covid-19 pandemic, making China America’s largest trading partner, the Xinhua news agency quoted the Wall Street Journal as reporting.  

Trade between the two countries increased to US$39.7 billion (RM169.7 billion) in April, up more than 40% from the prior month, surpassing Mexico and Canada, the report said in an article published on Sunday, calling China a “bright spot” for the US in a “gloomy global trade picture”.

Meanwhile, overall US imports fell by 13.7% to US$200.7 billion in April, while exports fell by 20.5% to US$151.3 billion, with deficit widening by 16.7% to US$49.4 billion in the month, according to data from the US Commerce Department. 

In its latest Global Economic Prospects released last week, the World Bank Group projected that the global economy is on track to shrink by 5.2% this year amid the pandemic, while expecting the Chinese economy to grow by 1%. 

The multilateral lender said US economy could shrink by 6.1% this year. The US Federal Reserve recently projected the US economy to contract by 6.5% in 2020, with the unemployment rate falling to 9.3% in the fourth quarter. 

“China looks like it could be the biggest engine of global GDP growth in 2020 and maybe 2021,” Craig Allen, president of the US-China Business Council, was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying. 

“We want American companies to benefit from that absolutely.” – Bernama, June 17, 2020.