Chinese export, import growth beats forecasts in March

Chinese export and import growth raced past forecasts in March but some economists highlighted the slower pace of increase in import volumes as a potential sign that the economy might have already started to cool.

In local currency terms, Chinese exports expanded at an annualised clip of 22.3% in March, which was up from a 4.2% rise in February (consensus: 8.0%).

That was also better than the average rate of growth of 11.0% witnessed over the previous two months.

The pace of growth in imports on the other hand slowed, with purchases from abroad ahead at a year-on-year clip of 26.3%, which was down from the 34.1% average for January and February.

Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics, believes the data confirms the country is benefiting from buoyant external demand.

However, he points out how import volumes, not taking into account changes in prices that is, appear to have slowed, "suggesting that the tighter policy stance has begun to weigh on domestic demand".

Nevertheless, he concedes that a drop in commodity prices is also behind the drop seen in import values.