China’s exports zoomed 7 per cent in May due to a firmer global demand, government data showed on Sunday, while a surprise decline in imports signalled a possible weakening of demand in the world’s second-largest economy.
Shipments from the world’s largest exporter accelerated 7 per cent to $195.47 billion in May from an year earlier, while imports were down 1.6 per cent to $159.55 billion, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said.In May, total foreign trade volume increased by 3 per cent to $355 billion, it said.
Exports picked up in May following a 0.9 per cent spike in April and sharp falls in March and February, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.Trade balance realised a sharp surplus of $35.92 billion in May, expanding by 74.9 per cent over the same month last year.The combined foreign trade volume in the first five months saw a year-on-year growth of 0.2 per cent to $1.68 trillion, according to the GAC data.
During the Jan-May period, exports decreased by 0.4 per cent but imports went up 0.8 per cent.The trade surplus stood at $71.3 billion.The figures were released amid a report released by the World Bank that the Chinese economy will grow at 7.6 per cent this year, a notch lower than last year’s 7.7 per cent.China’s growth will moderate over the medium term as the economy continues to rebalance gradually, a World Bank update released two days ago said.