China’s exports, imports rise in April

The Dollar Business Bureau

The exports and imports of China increased in the month of April, as foreign and domestic demand weakened and there was a decline in commodity prices.

In April, China's exports surged 8% compared to the previous year, missing analysts' predictions, whereas imports expanded 11.9%, an official data revealed on Monday.

This has left $38.05 billion of trade surplus for the country in the given month, China’s General Administration of Customs revealed.

In March, the country’s exports grew 16.4% and imports rose 20.3%.

China's trade surplus in the month of March stood at $23.93 billion.

Last week, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, in its quarterly report, said that the country’s exports and imports are likely to be stabilised and improved in near future.

Foreign trade is likely to face an improved environment this year when comparison to the last two years, the report also said.

China’s exports to the US surged 11.7% in April compared to a year ago whereas the imports from U.S. increased 1.5%.

As per the data of China's customs bureau, the country’s trade surplus with the US stood at $21.34 billion in the month of April, that increased from the previous month’s $17.74 billion.

The huge trade surplus of China with the US has also drawn the attention of President Donald Trump. The US President had impressed upon his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, at a recently held meeting in Florida, to help cut down the large trade deficit between the two nations.

While the US did not label China a manipulator of currency in its latest report by Treasury Department on currency manipulation, it seeks other fronts for tackling its huge trade deficit with China.

President Trump, last month, launched a trade investigation against Beijing and others for exporting cheap steel into US market.

As President Trump moves to put the interests of America first and to pull out from the multilateral trade pacts, China has time and again impressed upon the world as a supporter of free trade.