Mubasher: Chinese exports saw the third straight monthly decline in October, as imports dropped for the sixth month running, customs figures showed on Friday.

In US dollar terms, China’s outbound shipments edged down by 0.9% year-on-year last October, following a 3.2% drop in September, Customs General Administration (CGAC) said.

This reflected a deteriorating outlook for manufacturers in the world’s second biggest economy as the trade conflict with the US continued to take a heavy toll.

Meanwhile, imports plunged by 6.4% last month from a year ago, after stumbling by 8.5% in the preceding month.

This sent China’s dollar-denominated trade surplus of $42.81 billion in October, compared with a $39.65 billion surplus in September.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters projected exports to fall by 3.9% and imports by 8.9% with a trade surplus of $40.83 billion.

Beijing and Washington have been embroiled in a 16-month trade war, but some relief was provided this week with both sides agreeing to lift some tariffs which hit Chinese factories, raising the prospect of inking a long-awaited preliminary trade deal.

A meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump could be still postponed until next December, after cancelling a summit in Chile, where talks were initially slated for mid-November on the sidelines.

By 7:26 am GMT, the Chinese yuan inched down against the US dollar, with the USD/CNY pair edging up by 0.07% to CNY 6.9830.