August marked the third straight month that China’s exports outpaced those of the same month last year. It marks a stark turnaround from the start of the year, when the pandemic crippled China’s factories and global shipping networks. In the depths of the coronavirus pandemic, economists had predicted the export sector would be among the hardest-hit in China’s economy, as countries shut down their borders and global demand dropped. Instead, Chinese exporters, aided by the government’s heavy-handed but effective control of the coronavirus and its policies to support the economy, managed to grab a greater share of global exports in the second quarter while other exporting countries remained paralyzed by the pandemic. Key to the export recovery has been China’s outbound shipments of coronavirus-related medical supplies, including face masks, though economists expect the momentum to slow in the coming months as other countries resume production. Electronic goods have also […]