Chinese exports rebounded in April reflecting strong global demand, despite Beijing’s ongoing trade frictions with the United States, customs data shows.
China’s exports grew by 12.9 per cent year-on-year in April, beating analysts’ expectations and recovering from a 2.7 per cent drop in March.
Imports in April also showed robust growth of 21.5 per cent from last year, up to $US171.7 billion. Exports amounted to $US200.4 billion.
China is currently embroiled in a months-long brawl with the US over trade.
US officials led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin visited Beijing last week for negotiations with the Chinese government, but the meeting appeared to yield little except an agreement that the two powers would continue to communicate despite “big differences” between them.
The US delegation demanded that China curb the two nations’ trade deficit by at least $US200 billion by the end of 2020 from 2018 levels, as well as lower tariffs and eliminate subsidies for high tech.
China’s trade surplus with the US clocked in at $US22 billion in April. In the first four months of the year, China’s surplus with the US totalled $US80.4 billion, a 13.4-per-cent increase over the same period last year.
