China's March exports slump slows to 6.6% y-o-y, imports down 0.9%

[BEIJING] China's exports fell 6.6 per cent in March from a year earlier, while imports shrank 0.9 per cent, a better than expected outcome as factories restarted production, though the global coronavirus health crisis looks set to keep trade under pressure over coming months.

Customs data released on Tuesday compared with analysts' forecasts in a Reuters poll for a 14 per cent slump in exports. Shipments had dived 17.2 per cent in January-February.

Analysts had forecast a 9.5 per cent contraction in imports, worsening from a slide of 4 per cent in the first two months of the year.

China posted a trade surplus of US$19.9 billion (S$28.14 billion) last month, compared with the poll's forecast for a US$18.55 billion surplus, and a reversal of January-February's deficit of US$7.096 billion.

REUTERS