China’s export rebound heightens demand for workers

Overseas demand from COVID-constrained consumers greatly supported China’s manufacturing sector as its activity breached forecasts this year. In addition to this, the recovery prompted factories to hire blue-collar workers in a bid to clear foreign orders.

The country’s output of industrial robots jumped 22.2% as computer equipment advanced 10.1%. Meanwhile, integrated circuits recorded a 15.9% jump for the year ended November. The increases could be attributed to foreign demand, with export growth surpassing forecasts for eight times already in the span of nine months.

After an 11% jump last year, China’s global export share also jumped 13% in the second and third quarters. The figure released by Nomura came as the highest quarterly jump since 2006 when the investment bank started data monitoring.