The dollar value of China’s exports grew faster than expected in March as import growth moderated from a February spike, restoring a trade surplus after the previous month saw the first deficit since early 2014.
Exports grew 16.4 per cent year on year in dollar terms in March, according China’s General Administration of Customs. That was well above a median estimate predicting a rise of 4.3 per cent from economists surveyed by Bloomberg and appeared to represent a robust recovery from February’s fall of 1.3 per cent in outbound shipments.
Imports meanwhile rose 20.3 per cent year-on-year in dollar terms, a far cry from February’s 38.1 per cent but still visibly higher than a median forecast of 15.5 per cent growth.