China most impressive in world trade recovery: UK think tank

LONDON, April 29 (Xinhua) -- World goods trade is staging an impressive recovery and China has stood out the most, the British think tank Oxford Economics said in a report released Thursday.

"At the broad regional level, trade gains have been most striking in China -- as was the case after the global financial crisis," said the report.

According to the think tank, the position of the world's second largest economy as "a competitive supplier of goods like medical PPE and electronics has helped boost exports."

Data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs showed that China's total goods imports and exports surged 29.2 percent year on year to 8.47 trillion yuan (about 1.3 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2021, and exports jumped 38.7 percent from a year earlier.

As to the U.S.-China trade relations, the think tank said the coronavirus crisis initially hit China-U.S. trade hard, adding to the damage caused by the tariff war that began in 2018.

Although barriers are still substantially depressing bilateral trade, "bilateral trade flows have recovered over recent months, especially Chinese exports to the U.S.", Oxford Economics added.

Overall, the Oxford Economics forecasts the world goods trade is expected to expand by 10.5 percent this year after dropping 6.1 percent in 2020 and service trade will remain a significant drag on overall trade.

The think tank said the rebound in goods trade "has been much faster than it was after the global financial crisis, even with the many coronavirus restrictions still in place."