China's share of global-merchandise trade jumped from 13.6 percent in the last quarter of 2019 to 17.2 percent in the second quarter this year following the pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing data from Oxford Economics.

  China, whose factories were among the first to reopen from pandemic shutdown, recorded 9.5 percent growth in outbound shipping in August compared with the previous year. Its Ningbo Zhoushan Port, among the world's largest, has seen trade volume surpass 2019 levels with increasing frequency since July, the journal said, citing data from QuantCube Technology, a Paris-based data company.

  Countries where trade has improved, including China, are seeing their economies bounce back partly because of their success in containing COVID-19.

  Global trade is rebounding much more quickly this year than it did after the 2008 financial crisis, lifting parts of the world economy, and households are spending on imported goods from places such as China even though spending on local services has fallen.

  China is on track to be the only major economy to grow this year, the paper said.

  (Source: China Daily)