Chinese March export figures missed forecasts

The value of Chinese exports fell by an outsized 14.6% year-on-year in March. However, that followed a 48.9% rise in February, analysts at Unicredit pointed out.

Economists had been expecting growth of 8.2%.

Purchases from abroad fell 12.3%, resulting in a 18.16bn yuan trade surplus, according to the General Administration of Customs.

A spokesman for the country’s customs bureau attributed the weak data to weak external demand, the slowdown in China’s economic growth and the decline in international commodity prices.

The latest figures on international trade come on the heels of similarly weak reading on consumption and industrial production.

“Despite the surprise not being big, it adds – at least at the margin – to forces that could put the PBoC between a rock and a hard place. The central bank has been easing in order to increase the chances of hitting growth targets. But the threat of capital outflows, and now a slightly higher-than-expected inflation print, make further rate cuts more difficult. We think growth risks in China remain to the downside,” analysts at Unicredit wrote in reaction to the data.

Data on gross domestic product (GDP) were due for release on Wednesday. Some economists cautioned the country's GDP may have expanded by less than 7% in the first three months of the year as the strengthening yuan takes it toll.