BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s exports posted a surprise surge in March, with outbound shipments rising 14.8%, snapping five months of decline, while imports fell a smaller-than-expected 1.4%, customs data showed on Thursday.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had expected exports to fall 7.0%, after dropping 6.8% in the January-February period.
Imports were forecast to have shrunk an annual 5.0%, compared with a fall of 10.2% over January and February.
Newly appointed premier Li Qiang told a cabinet meeting last week that officials should “try every method” to grow trade with developed economies and push companies to further explore emerging market economies, such as those of Southeast Asia.
China has set a growth target of about 5% for gross domestic product (GDP) this year, after severe pandemic controls last year knocked the economy to one of its slowest rates in decades. Last year’s GDP was up only 3% on 2021.
The data is particularly surprising given South Korean exports, which are typically a good measure of Chinese imports, fell for the sixth time in a row in March, down 13.6% on the year.
(Reporting by Joe Cash and Ellen Zhang; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Sam Holmes)
