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(Yicai Global) March 8 -- China's trade surplus with the rest of the world last month was down 47.8 percent from the year-ago period at USD13.8 billion, China's General Administration of Customs said today.
The figure was well off average analyst predictions of USD34.6 billion.
Exports of goods fell 2.7 percent to over USD193 billion in April, while imports increased 4 percent to under USD180 billion, the data showed. Analysts had envisioned exports rising 3 percent and imports falling by about 2.1 percent.
For the first four months of the year, the surplus was USD8.9 billion, up 26 percent from the same period a last year. Goods exports rose 0.2 percent to USD744.6 billion, while imports fell 2.5 percent to USD655 billion.
Editor: James Boynton