China's export growth gathered pace in April as factories raced to meet a wave of overseas orders from buyers seeking to stockpile components amid fears the Iran war could push ⁠global input costs even higher.

Foreign trade in yuan-denominated terms grew 14.2 percent year on year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Saturday.

The total value of imported and exported goods hit 4.38 trillion yuan, with the former up 9.8 percent to 2.48 trillion yuan and the latter up 20.6 percent to 1.9 trillion yuan.

For the first four months, total foreign trade hit 16.23 trillion yuan, up 14.9 percent.

In US dollar terms, exports expanded 14.1 percent, outpacing the 2.5 percent gain in March and a 7.9 percent rise tipped by economists.

Chinese exporters have so far weathered the fallout from the Middle East conflict, buoyed by overseas buyers scrambling to secure supplies, but economists warn that the longer the war drags ⁠on and energy prices rise, the greater the risk ⁠that external demand fades away – ⁠leaving sluggish domestic consumption unable to plug the gap.

Imports notched another strong month in April in US dollar terms, climbing 25.3 percent versus 27.8 percent in March. Economists had forecasted ‌growth of 15.2 percent.

That boosted China's trade surplus last month to US$84.8 billion from US$51.13 billion in ⁠March.

The country's trade surplus with the United States in April was US$23.07 billion, versus US$16.84 billion in March while the surplus figure for the four-month period was US$87.68 billion.

The figures come ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to China next week, a trip that could yield gains on farm trade and aeroplane parts for his country.

China's trade in services expanded 2.3 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2026, with stellar growth recorded in travel service exports, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed on Friday.

The total value of service imports and exports reached over 1.8 trillion yuan.

Notably, travel service exports jumped 32.3 percent to 105.35 billion yuan, the highest growth among all service export sectors.

Imports of transport services amounted to 230.2 billion yuan, an increase of 22.8 percent, marking the fastest pace in the top five service import categories by scale.

Trade in knowledge-intensive services expanded by 1.6 percent year on year in the first quarter, accounting for 43.5 percent of total service trade.

Personal cultural and entertainment services, as well as financial services, recorded particularly sharp export gains of 25.6 percent and 16.1 percent, respectively.

Inbound tourism has been booming in recent years after China introduced expanded visa-free policies and conveniences such as instant tax refunding for departing visitors.

Foreign nationals accounted for roughly 8.32 million visa-free entries into China in the quarter, making up 77.9 percent of all inbound foreign trips and representing an increase of 29.3 percent year on year. (Xinhua & Reuters)



Edited by Thomas McAlinden