The visible trade surplus of the country came in at USD29.86 billion in March, which was lower than the expected surplus of USD34.95 billion.
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Customs data posted online Wednesday show that China’s exports rose 11.5 percent in March compared with a year earlier, to $160.8 billion, after slumping by 25 percent in February.
HONG KONG, April 13 China’s copper arrivals hit a record in March, pushing up total imports 30.1 percent in the first quarter from past year, after price differentials between domestic and global markets favoured imports in previous months.
The surge in March exports comes despite warnings from industry officials that Chinese steel exports will fall this year from a record 112 million tonnes in 2015 as protectionist policies are enacted.
Imports from Hong Kong soared 116% in March year on year, a sign that the trend is holding, economists said. after rising 89% during the combined January-February period.
As the world’s second-largest economy and biggest trader in goods China is a pillar of global trade, with its performance impacting supplier and destination countries from Australia to Zambia. The government aims for economic growth of 6.5 to 7 percent this year.
China imported 85.77 million tonnes of iron ore last month, up 6.5 percent from a year ago, customs data showed.
In Chinese currency terms exports were up 18.7 per cent.
Credit had increased to the market in March from the previous two months, supporting importers’ buying, he added.
During the first three months of the year, China’s trade with the European Union, US and ASEAN all declined. The demand was still weaker than the same time previous years.
Ore imports in March stood at 1.37 million tonnes, down 6.2 percent from February.
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Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said before the release that exports would be “helped mainly by the low base” due to seasonal distortions around the Lunar New Year holiday, with imports lifted by “better investment demand and shallower commodity price deflation”.
