China's exports grew more than expected in April as global demand remained strong, data from the General Administration of Customs revealed on Friday.
Exports advanced 32.3 percent on a yearly basis in April. Economists had forecast the growth rate to ease to 24.1 percent from 30.6 percent posted in March.
Likewise, imports surged 43.1 percent from the previous year versus the expected growth of 42.5 percent. Imports had advanced 38.1 percent in March.
The trade surplus totaled $42.85 billion in April, which was above the expected level of $28.1 billion.
Looking ahead, trade volumes are probably close to a cyclical peak, Julian Evans-Pritchard, an economist at Capital Economics, said. Admittedly, the current supply constraints should ease over the coming quarters.
But at the same time, vaccine rollouts and looser social distancing restrictions in developed markets will start to reverse the pandemic-induced surge in demand for Chinese exports, the economist noted.
Further, the economist said China's domestic recovery is levelling off and a tighter policy stance means that the composition of output looks set to shift toward services and away from credit and import-intensive sectors like industry and construction.
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