Red May, the unbearable weight behind 'beautiful numbers'

This beautiful figure runs counter to China's aspirations. According to figures released by the Chinese Customs yesterday, China's trade surplus reached 13 billion U.S. dollars in May. This beautiful number implies an unbearable weight for China. In February of this year, China’s trade surplus reached more than US$2.4 billion, and it has been explored for one year... This beautiful figure runs counter to China’s aspirations. According to figures released by China Customs yesterday, China’s trade surplus reached US$13 billion in May. This beautiful number implies an unbearable weight for China. In February of this year, China’s trade surplus reached more than US$2.4 billion, reaching its lowest point in one and a half years. However, the number of China’s trade surplus has soared afterwards, rising for three consecutive months, which runs counter to China’s wish to balance the balance of payments. . Surplus is higher than market expectations Yesterday, the world's major economies successively released the latest foreign trade statistics. The US trade deficit is showing signs of expansion again, but the figures released by the Chinese Customs show that in May, China’s exports were 73.11 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 25.1% year-on-year. In May, China's trade surplus was as high as 13 billion U.S. dollars, which was more than 1 billion U.S. dollars more than the 12 billion U.S. dollars previously expected by the market. Unlike Japan in the last century, China’s trade surplus is mainly related to the business activities of foreign multinational companies. Therefore, for developed countries, China’s trade surplus is not actually destructive. But in recent years, China has often suffered injustices for this. China has been frequently criticized on issues such as the RMB exchange rate. Although there are also arguments in support of China's not deliberately pursuing a trade surplus, the five-year period is a test of patience for countries with trade deficits and a test of China's future trade with other countries in the world. China's imports and exports are caught in a dilemma. How to move towards a balance of payments? The reality puts China in a dilemma. The figures released by the Chinese Customs yesterday showed that in the first five months of this year, China's imports of crude oil and refined oil were increasing, while exports were on the brakes. Compared with the same period last year, my country's crude oil and refined oil imports increased by more than 10% from January to May. At the same time, crude oil exports fell by 6.6% from the same period last year. Although increasing imports of resource products can indeed reduce the trade surplus, this approach is often criticized by the international community, and China has been repeatedly accused of being the main factor driving the rise of international oil prices. China is also in an awkward position in another product area that has attracted much attention-high-tech products. Because military technology may be involved, Western countries often set up many barriers. The United States simply introduced regulations to strictly control the sale of these products by American companies to China. The call for strategic transformation of China's foreign trade has long been rising. But obviously, this goal cannot be achieved overnight. China's labor prices still have a comparative advantage. More importantly, the global pattern of consumption in Europe and the United States and processing in Asia formed by international industrial transfer is far from being reversed by one country. How long will China's import growth rate be able to outperform export growth? This is still full of suspense.