China has announced an unexpected surge in March exports, signalling strong global demand despite the Japanese earthquake and high global oil prices.
On a quarterly basis, China recorded its first trade deficit since 2004 in the first quarter, the General Administration of Customs said on Sunday. The first quarter trade deficit of $1.02bn reflected domestic economic strength and rising commodity prices, analysts said.
But Zheng Yuesheng, statistics chief at the customs administration, told state television the first-quarter deficit was likely to be only “temporary”. And a late surge in exports, which rose 35.8 per cent year on year in March, boosted the trade balance narrowly into positive territory for March, with a $140m surplus.