Weekend data - China's exports in June beat estimates and grew at their fastest this year

China trade data for July 2022 was released on Sunday:

This snapshot is from the ForexLive economic data calendar, access it here.

China's economy continued to recover from lockdowns earlier in the year through July, the best growth in exports will be welcome. Less welcome of course is the miss on imports, this will be read as a sign that domestic demand in the country continues to lag. Consumers in China are wary of the imploding property sector being crushed by heavy loads of debt, a repayment strike from homebuyers not seeing promised homes delivered by developers, and widespread contagion. Government economic support is helping cushion the blows, but not entirely.

China has thrown in the towel of hitting its GDP growth target this year:

From July:

• Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signaled flexibility on the economic growth rate

And then:

• China’s Politburo all but acknowledged its given up on hitting the growth target this year

The latest:

• Chinese Premier Li Keqiang ... "we can live with a growth rate that is slightly higher or lower than the target"