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China's exports and imports returned to slight growth in April, beating market forecasts and offering some positive signals for the world's second-largest economy after a weaker-than-expected start to 2014.
Exports rose 0.9% in April from a year earlier, following falls of 6.6% in March and 18.1% in February, the General Administration of Customs said on Thursday.
Imports grew 0.8% from a year ago, after an 11.3% fall in March, to produce a trade surplus of $18.5 billion, more than double the $7.7 billion surplus in March.
All three figures bettered the median forecasts in a Reuters poll, with exports and imports defying expectations of another fall.
"The external demand side is not such a big problem for China now, because the genuine recovery is there," said Wei Yao, China economist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong.
"This is actually offering some support to China's growth," she added.
Official and private factory surveys for April have pointed to initial signs of stabilisation after the government unveiled targeted measures to bolster growth, although export orders were a weak point.
Last week Beijing acted to shore up trade, taking steps such as quicker tax rebates for exporters and encouraging more high-tech equipment and consumer goods imports.
The Commerce Ministry has said the trade sector is likely to gain momentum after May, when the data is expected to more accurately reflect actual activity following last year's crackdown on fake trade receipts.
The April data showed export growth was largely driven by demand from developed economies, particularly the United States and European Union, while numbers from emerging economies remain soft.
The government has set a target of 7.5% growth for exports and import this year. China missed its growth targets of 8% in 2013 and 10% in 2012, and some analysts and officials think this year's target will also be tough to reach.
China's economy grew at its slowest pace in 18 months in the first quarter, and a Reuters poll shows analysts expect growth of 7.3% in 2014, the weakest in 24 years.
