NEWS DESK

China’s exports rose 3.5 per cent in April from a year earlier, confounding market expectations for a sharp fall, as factories restarted production after the coronavirus pandemic, customs data showed on Thursday, while imports shrank 14.2 per cent.

Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast exports would tumble 15.7 per cent from a year earlier after a 6.6 per cent drop in March.

Imports were estimated to have contracted 11.2 per cent, worsening from a slide of 0.9 per cent in March.

China posted a trade surplus of $45.34 billion last month, compared with the poll’s forecast for a $6.35 billion surplus and $19.93 billion surplus in March.