China's April trade growth slows as demand for commodities, electronics cools

Beijing

CHINA'S import growth slowed faster than expected in April, as inbound shipments of commodities such as iron ore and copper weakened, while export growth more than halved, in line with a general cooling in demand for electronic gadgets.

China's April imports rose 11.9 per cent, cooling from March's 20.3 per cent rise, official data showed on Monday, and missing analysts' expectations for an 18 per cent rise.

Exports rose 8.0 per cent from a year earlier, slowing from a 16.4 per cent rise in the previous month and short of expectations of 10.4 per cent.

While the data shows trade remained robust at the beginning of the second quarter, analysts say the spurt in China's economic growth seen in the first three months of the year may be as good as it gets as policymakers seek to tighten speculative investment, especially in the property sector. "Looking ahead, we expect export growth to hold up well given the relatively bright outlook for the global economy this year," Capital Economics China economist Julian Evans-Pritchard said in a note. "Growth in inbound shipme…