China’s Current Account Surplus Rises to Highest Since Late 2017

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China’s current account surplus continued to rise in the first quarter of 2019, pushed up by the largest primary income surplus on record.

• The current-account balance in the first three months of this year was $58.6 billion, according to a State Administration of Foreign Exchange report Friday, compared with $54.6 billion in the last quarter of 2018.

Key Insights

• The primary income surplus, which mainly shows profits on overseas investments, rose to a record
• As China transforms into a consumption-led economy from the factory of the world, the size of the current account balance compared to gross domestic product has been declining, and it’s likely to hit 0.1% this year, according to Bloomberg surveys
• Concern about the balance falling into deficit are easing on a higher trade surplus, as imports slowed more than exports this year, Larry Hu, head of Chinese economics at Macquarie Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong, wrote in a note ahead of the data

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• The full year balance was $49 billion in 2018, the smallest since 2004
• Detailed breakdown of the balance

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Yinan Zhao in Beijing at yzhao300@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey Black at jblack25@bloomberg.net, James Mayger, Sharon Chen

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With assistance from Bloomberg