BEIJING – China’s trade growth accelerated in April, beating analysts expectations, a positive sign for the country’s fragile economic recovery. 

Exports surged by 14.7 per cent compared with a year earlier. That is up from 10 per cent in March. Imports also rose by 16.8 per cent up from 14.1 per cent.

The data meant a trade surplus for China, reversing a surprise deficit in March. However, some analysts raised questions about the accuracy of the data.

"I have no strong conviction whether the data reflect reality,” said Zhiwei Zhang, the chief China economist at Nomura in Hong Kong.

China had a bigger-than-expected trade surplus in April of $18.2b, after a deficit of $884m in March. In recent months Chinese export data has shown positive signs of a gradual recovery in external demand. But that is not in line with other Asian exporter countries, such as South Korea and Taiwan, which have seen their export growth weaken amid slowing global demand.

Agencies