China's April foreign trade beats market expectations

China's foreign trade grew 14.2% year-on-year in April, reaching 4.38 trillion yuan ($634.06 billion), data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Saturday. Exports came in at 2.48 trillion yuan, rising 9.8%, while imports climbed 20.6% to 1.9 trillion yuan.

In the first four months of the year, China's total imports and exports stood at 16.23 trillion yuan, marking a 14.9% increase from a year earlier. Exports rose 11.3% to 9.33 trillion yuan, while imports expanded 20% to 6.9 trillion yuan.

In terms of trading partners, China's trade with ASEAN countries totaled 2.75 trillion yuan in the January-April period, up 15.7% year-on-year. Trade with the European Union reached 2.01 trillion yuan, growing 13.2%. Meanwhile, trade with the US fell 12.9% to 1.25 trillion yuan. During the same period, China's trade with Belt and Road partner countries totaled 8.28 trillion yuan, up 13.5%.

By business type, private enterprises recorded 9.31 trillion yuan in imports and exports in the first four months, an increase of 15.9%. Foreign-invested firms posted 4.72 trillion yuan in trade, up 15.4%, while state-owned enterprises saw trade rise 9.8% to 2.16 trillion yuan.

Looking at key export categories, China's exports of mechanical and electrical products rose 17.6% to 5.92 trillion yuan, accounting for 63.5% of the country's total exports. Exports of labor-intensive products fell 2.6% to 1.26 trillion yuan, while agricultural exports edged up 2% to 240.15 billion yuan.

Among green and low-carbon products, exports of electric vehicles, lithium batteries and wind turbine units surged 68.1%, 43.2% and 40.7% respectively. Industrial robot exports also increased 30%.