Mubasher: Chinese customs figures for September were worse than expected, as the world’s second biggest economy has been embroiled in a crippling trade conflict with the US, Reuters reported.

In US dollar terms, China’s exports dropped by 3.2% year-on-year last September, while imports fell by 8.5%, Customs General Administration (CGAC) said.

This sent the Asian nation’s dollar-denominated trade surplus of $39.65 billion last month.

Meanwhile, analysts polled by Reuters projected Chinese exports to fall by 3% on an annualised basis, and imports to drop by 5.2% in September. China’s total trade surplus was expected to come in at $33.3 billion.

In Chinese yuan (CNY) terms, China’s outbound shipments declined by 0.7% in September, while imports fell by 6.2%.

Chinese and US officials engaged in talks last week in Washington to discuss trade.

US President Donald Trump said Washington clinched a “very substantial phase one deal” with Beijing.

The deal would see China purchasing $40 billion to $50 billion worth of US agricultural products, and handle issues such as intellectual property theft and currency manipulation, President Trump said.

However, “the mini US-China trade deal reached on Friday doesn’t alter the outlook significantly,” a note by consultancy Capital Economics’ China economist Martin Lynge Rasmussen was quoted by CNBC.

Rasmussen expects Chinese exports to remain weak in the next quarters, while imports growth is set to lose pace.

By 7:26 am GMT, the Chinese yuan rose against the US dollar, with the USD/CNY pair falling by 0.41% to CNY 7.0602.