China returns to trade surplus in April

BEIJING: China bounced back to a trade surplus in April, reflecting the underlying strength of the world's third largest economy and a pick-up in the United States, official data released Monday showed.

The Asian nation posted a surplus of 1.68 billion dollars in April, state Xinhua news agency said, quoting customs authorities.

Although it was down 87 percent from a year ago, the figure marked a turnaround from March, when China recorded a deficit of 7.2 billion dollars, its first in six years.

Exports totalled 119.92 billion dollars in April, up 30.5 percent from the same month a year earlier, Xinhua said. Imports gained 49.7 percent year-on-year to 118.24 billion dollars.

Analysts said the trade data highlighted the recovery in the US economy and robust growth in China -- a blistering 11.9 percent in the first quarter.

"Recent data out of the United States is more encouraging for Chinese exporters and we think that external demand should continue to provide solid support to China's recovery over the rest of the year," said Brian Jackson, a senior analyst at Royal Bank of Canada in Hong Kong.

"Import growth, meanwhile, remains strong, indicating that Chinese demand is also making a robust contribution to global growth."

But it was too early to tell if the European debt crisis would have a serious impact on demand for Chinese-made goods, Citigroup economist Ken Peng said.

"Recent happenings in Europe may have a negative impact on European demand but I don't think that has been reflected yet," said Peng.

The data came as Europe announced a trillion-dollar rescue package for crisis-hit euro countries backed by the IMF and central banks worldwide.