HONG KONG: China’s exports have risen 14.1% in April from a year earlier, the government says, despite the Iran war and lingering impacts from higher US tariffs.
The data was released last Saturday, just days ahead of a planned meeting this week between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.
That beat analysts’ estimates and was a significant improvement from March’s 2.5% year-on-year expansion.
Exports to the United States rose 11.3% from the year before, up from a 26.5% drop in March.
Imports climbed 25.3%, slower than the 27.8% growth in March, but still robust.
The Trump-Xi summit comes at a time when relations are beset by multiple issues, with efforts to end the war in Iran eclipsing the usual sources of friction.
“We’re expecting that overall external demand will remain a solid driver of growth this year,” said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at Dutch bank ING, likely led by China’s exports of semiconductors and autos.
In March, Chinese leaders set an annual economic growth target of 4.5% to 5%, slightly lower than last year’s 5% expansion and the lowest target since 1991.
Export growth is expected to continue to power its wider economy, especially as shipments increased from China to Europe, South-East Asia, Latin America and Africa over the past months.
China’s exports to the United States have fallen for most of the months since Trump imposed steeper tariffs and harsher controls on sharing of technology after he took office last year.
But trade with the United States is likely improving this year, said Song, particularly because of the base effects of sharp declines caused by Trump’s tariff hikes in 2025.
Apart from efforts to broker a peace agreement to end the Iran war, trade and export controls – including rare earths and US tech restrictions on China – will likely be on the agenda during the Trump-Xi summit, following a year-long US-China trade truce reached late last year when the two leaders last met in South Korea.
Major breakthroughs on export controls are unlikely, but the leaders’ upcoming meeting may bring “incremental” steps to troubleshoot trade friction, HSBC economists further pointed out in a recent research note.
“On balance, China looks to have more leverage,” wrote Leah Fahy, senior China economist of Capital Economics, in a note.
“But higher tariffs haven’t stopped China’s exports from continuing to surge over the past year, and Beijing has showed that it is prepared to wait out US pressure,” Fahy added.
Imports have been stronger in 2026 so far, though China is still recovering from a property slump that has dragged on consumption and investment. — AP
