Updated

China's August trade figures showed exports picking up pace while imports missed estimates, underscoring persistent imbalances in the world's second-largest economy. The data comes as international pressure mounts for China to rebalance its trade model, a theme that has also been elevated at a recent G20 finance meeting in the U.S., where officials debated whether China's export-driven growth has cost jobs in other countries. Commentary accompanying the data pointed to China's weak domestic consumer demand as an increasingly global concern, with slowing imports seen as a symptom of soft internal spending even as exports remain a key growth engine.