Chinese Trade Booms in First Quarter on Strong Overseas Demand

Bloomberg

Published Apr 12, 2021 10:05PM ET

Updated Apr 12, 2021 10:27PM ET

Chinese Trade Booms in First Quarter on Strong Overseas Demand

(Bloomberg) -- China’s trade surged in the first quarter, with overseas demand driving a jump in exports and imports also rising.

Exports rose 38.7% in yuan terms in the first quarter to 4.61 trillion yuan ($704 billion), the General Administration of Customs said Tuesday. Imports were up 19.3% to 3.86 trillion yuan, leaving a surplus of 759.3 billion yuan. The government will release trade data for March and dollar-denominated figures later Tuesday.

China is benefiting from stronger global demand as the rollout of vaccines helps to boost world growth. The figures are also skewed by comparisons from a year ago, when the economy was largely shut down to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

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