RTTNews | Sep 7, 2021 03:57AM EDT

03:56 Tuesday, September 7, 2021 (RTTNews.com) - China's exports and imports logged sharp growth in August despite COVID-related port closures, official data showed on Tuesday.

Data released by the General Administration of Customs revealed that exports advanced 25.6 percent year-on-year in August, bigger than the economists' forecast of 17.1 percent and July's 19.3 percent increase.

Reflecting low of comparison, imports increased 33.1 percent annually after rising 28.1 percent in July. Economists had forecast an annual increase of 26.8 percent.

As a result, the trade balance showed a surplus of $58.34 billion, which was above the expected level of $51.05 billion. In July, the surplus totaled $56.6 billion.

The trade surplus with the US rose to $37.68 billion in August from $35.4 billion in July.

With trade volumes still well above their pre-virus trend, they will drop back over the coming quarters, Sheana Yue and Julian Evans-Pritchard, economists at Capital Economics, said.

Outside a few narrow product categories where demand is being temporarily buoyed by the pandemic, foreign demand for Chinese exports is already coming off the boil, the economists noted.

Semiconductor related sectors such as autos are once again under the spotlight and could provide China with a comparative advantage in production, Iris Pang, an ING economist said.

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