China's Exports Zoom 7 Per Cent in May, Imports Disappoint

China's exports rose by 7 per cent in May due to a spike in global demand after weak performances in earlier months, while an unexpected fall in imports signaled a weakening of demand in the world's second-largest economy, data showed on Sunday.

The surprising decline in demand in the domestic market indicated that securing the trade target remains a struggle for the world's largest exporter, which is under pressure from the US and others to allow its currency (yuan) to rise in value.

Exports accelerated 7 per cent to $195.47 billion in May from an year earlier, while imports dipped 1.6 per cent to $159.55 billion, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said.

In May, total foreign trade volume increased 3 per cent to $355 billion, it said.

Exports picked up in May following a 0.9 per cent jump in April and sharp falls in March and February, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The GAC data showed that the amount of major bulk items China imported in the first five months was on a rise, except for crude oil and some less important commodities.

"The decline in imports may be the result of lower prices of these commodities," Liu Xuezhi, an analyst with the Bank of Communications told the news agency.

Trade balance realised a sharp surplus of $35.92 billion in May - from $20.4 billion a year ago - expanding by 74.9 per cent over the same month last year.

The combined foreign trade volume in the first 5 months saw a year-on-year growth of 0.2 per cent to $1.68 trillion, according to the GAC data.

During the Jan-May period, exports decreased by 0.4 per cent but imports went up 0.8 per cent.

Trade surplus stood at $71.3 billion. The figures were released amid a report released by the World Bank that the Chinese economy will grow at 7.6 per cent this year, a notch lower than last year's 7.7 per cent.

China's growth will moderate over the medium term as the economy continues to rebalance gradually, a World Bank update released two days ago said.

Growth is expected to slow to 7.6 per cent in 2014, and 7.5 per cent in 2015, from 7.7 per cent in 2013, it said.

The International Monetary Fund last week cut its economic growth forecast for China because of concerns about the property market and a build-up in credit.

Chinese premier Li Keqiang on Friday had warned officials not to overlook economic challenges, saying downward pressure on the economy was "relatively high".

Sunday's trade data showed that China's trade with major partners continued to rise from January to May.

Its trade with the European Union, the US, the ASEAN and Japan rose by 11.7 per cent, 5.1 per cent, 3.6 per cent and 3.4 per cent, respectively.

China set a trade growth target of 7.5 per cent this year, lower than the 8-per cent goal for 2013 and last year's actual expansion of 7.6 per cent.

Zhang Ji, an official at Chinese Ministry of Commerce, said last month that achieving the trade target was "an arduous task" as downward pressure is weighing on the country's economy.

To address the problem, China's State Council announced a guideline in May to secure stable growth of foreign trade. After that, the GAC among other authorities unveiled a string of pro-trade measures.

China is under pressure from the US and other countries to allow its yuan currency to rise in value.

Chinese exporters worry that persistent yuan strength hurts their sales by making their products expensive overseas.