SHANGHAI/TOKYO — China’s export machine powered through at the onset of an escalating trade war with the U.S., as Beijing faces a pressing need to invigorate weak domestic demand and sell more to other countries.
Outbound shipments from China rose 12.4% year-on-year in March in dollar terms, according to Chinese customs data released Monday, accelerating from a 2.3% growth rate in the first two months of the year and smashing a 4.4% average forecast by s polled by . While many orders appear to have been front-loaded in anticipation of the heaviest U.S. tariffs, imports fell 4.3%, steeper than estimates of a 2% drop. This resulted in a trade surplus of $272.97 billion for the first quarter.
