(Yicai Global) April 13 -- The value of China’s imports and exports climbed 4.8 percent in the first quarter from the same period last year as foreign trade gets back on track and as the government rolls out a number of supportive measures, according to the latest data.

Some CNY9.8 trillion (USD1.4 trillion) worth of goods were imported into or exported out of China in the three months ended March 31, Lv Daliang, head of the department of statistics and analysis at the General Administration of Customs, said today. The 4.8 percent growth rate was 2.6 percent faster than that in the fourth quarter last year.

Foreign trade has been rising significantly with each passing month this year. In January it tumbled 7 percent due to the impact of the week-long Chinese New Year holiday, but it quickly recovered to attain 8 percent growth in February which then expanded to 15.5 percent in March, Lv said.

This quarter, foreign trade is set to fully recover, staging a double-digit comeback to top pre-pandemic levels, Wei Jianguo, vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, told Yicai Global.

Exports soared 8.4 percent in first quarter from a year earlier to CNY5.6 trillion (USD814.2 billion), while imports edged up 0.2 percent to CNY4.2 trillion.

Trade with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and countries along the ‘Belt and Road’ route increased rapidly, jumping by over 16 percent in the first three months from a year earlier.

Exports to Europe and the US, though, fell in the first two months, tumbling 5 percent and 15.2 percent, respectively. However, exports to Europe have now returned to growth and trade between China and Europe advanced 2 percent in the first quarter year on year to CNY1.3 trillion (USD189 billion).

Exports of mechanical, electrical and labor-intensive products expanded in the first quarter. In particular, exports of electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and solar cells surged 66.9 percent year on year to CNY100 billion (USD14.6 billion), pushing the overall growth of exports up by 2 percentage points.

China faces a severe and complicated foreign trade situation this year, Lv said. But it will still be possible to promote the stability and quality of foreign trade given the strong resilience of the economy and foreign trade, he added.

Many Chinese exporters came under pressure from a drop in overseas demand in the second half last year, but they are now experiencing a recovery, according to Yicai Global research.

"Our inventory has dropped more than 60 percent in the past month," Lai Guorong, general manager at Zhejiang Aidu Clothing, told Yicai Global. "Inventory peaked at the end of last year with 2.2 million goods in stock. But this has fallen to over 800,000 since the start of the year even though the factory is working around the clock," he added.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor