It's all about NE Asia's exports today, with China & Taiwan reporting August results, and Japan reporting on the first 20 days of August.
What emerges is twofold. First, NE Asia's exports as a whole probably rose around 2.3% yoy in August, largely building on the post-pandemic strength seen in July. This is the second yoy rise in a row - and to find something similar, you've got to go back to Oct-Nov 2018!
Second, China's commercial hegemony over NE Asia's exports continues to grow: almost exactly two-thirds of NE Asia's total exports in August came from China - that's up 4.4pps yoy. And there's a further 8.8% coming from Taiwan (up 0.5pp yoy). Meanwhile, Japan and S Korea are on the wane, now accounting for only 24.6% between them! Neither political trade pressures or the impact of the pandemic has slowed China's continuing rise.
