China exports see surprise 3.5% jump in April, imports fall

A forecast of analysts by Bloomberg had predicted an 11 percent dive in exports and a 10 percent plunge in imports.

China’s exports saw a shock 3.5 percent rise in April despite a hit to external demand from the coronavirus pandemic, official figures showed Thursday.

A man wearing a face mask walks past statues of bulls in Beijing. (AP)

But imports fell 14.2 percent from a year ago, a steeper drop from last month, according to the Customs Administration.

A forecast of analysts by Bloomberg had predicted an 11 percent dive in exports and a 10 percent plunge in imports.

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Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics noted that “April shipments may have been boosted by exporters making up for shortfalls in the first quarter due to supply constraints then”.

In the January-February period, the height of the coronavirus outbreak in China, exports had plummeted 17.2 percent.

But in spite of the bounceback this time -- the first return to positive territory this year -- Kuijs does not expect the trend to last as China’s key trading partners fall into recession.