Exports to India CHINA was looking to boost agricultural exports to India while increasing imports of rapeseed and soymeal, President Xi Jinping told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of a G20 meeting Friday. The two countries should expand bilateral trade and strengthen investment, Xinhua cited Xi as saying, without giving details. Their bilateral trade reached US$89.6 billion in 2017/18 with a deficit of US$62.9 billion in China’s favor. Industrial robot THE country’s industrial robot output increased 8.7 percent year on year in the first 10 months of 2018, slower than the 9.3-percent growth for the January-September period, according to official data. A total of 118,452 units of industrial robots were manufactured during the January-October period, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. In October, robot output dropped 3.3 percent year on year to 9,590 units, the ministry said, without explaining the reason behind the fall. China’s robotics industry has maintained rapid growth over the past five years. Industrial robot output surged 81 percent to exceed 130,000 in 2017, achieving the government’s target three years ahead of schedule. Trade value THE total value of China’s imports and exports already exceeded the full-year figure for 2017 as of mid-November, China’s customs administration said Saturday. The General Administration of Customs said in a statement on its website that as of mid-November, the total value of imports and exports had risen nearly 15 percent, compared with the same period a year earlier. It did not give a specific figure. The value of China’s yuan-denominated imports and exports was 27.79 trillion yuan in 2017, according to previously released customs data. Factory growth GROWTH in China’s manufacturing sector stalled for the first time in over two years in November, missing expectations and adding pressure on the government to roll out more economic support measures. The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 50.0 in November from 50.2 in October, data showed Friday. Analysts surveyed previously had forecast the reading for the month would be unchanged from October at 50.2. |