China's first trade deficit in more than year

China reported its first monthly trade deficit in more than one year in March, with imports rebounding strongly after the Chinese New Year.

According to the General Administration of Customs this morning, China's exports expanded 10 percent from a year earlier to US$182.2 billion last month, down from the surge of 21.8 percent in February.

Imports jumped 14.1 percent to US$183.1 billion, reversing February's drop of 15.2 percent.

It left a trade deficit of US$884 million in March, the first since February of 2012 and compared with the trade surplus of US$15.3 billion a month earlier.

Zhou Hao, an economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, said the surprisingly high import figures saw China register a rare trade deficit.

"The much-faster-than-expected import growth is mainly driven by a surge of imports from the United States," Zhou said.

"While the yen weakness has not yet affected Chinese imports from Japan," added Zhou.

In the first quarter as a whole, exports jumped 18.4 percent and imports increased 8.4 percent, landing the trade surplus at US$43 billion, indicating the domestic demand remained comparatively sluggish, Zhou said.

March's surprising trade deficit may send a powerful signal that a strong yuan can no longer be tolerated, analysts said, noting the yuan's current appreciation was because of capital inflows, and was not in China's interests amid a significant yen weakness and a strong US dollar.

China still stick to its promise of exploring domestic demand as a key driver of its economy.

At the Boao Forum ended earlier this week in Hainan Province, China's President Xi Jinping said China will import US$10 trillion of goods annually in the next five years and invest US$500 billion overseas.

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