Beijing | China's exports rebounded unexpectedly to growth in March despite a decline in US and European demand following interest rate hikes to cool inflation.

Exports rose 14.8 per cent over a year earlier to USD 315.6 billion, recovering from a 6.8 per cent contraction in January and February, customs data showed Thursday. Imports sank 1.4 per cent to USD 227.4 billion, but the decline was smaller than the 10.2 per cent slide in the previous two months.

China's politically sensitive global trade surplus widened by 82 per cent over a year earlier to USD 88.2 billion.

Exports to the United States and the 27-nation European Union, China's biggest export markets, declined.

For the first three months of the year, exports edged up 0.5 per cent over the same period of 2022 to USD 821.8 billion, the General Administration of Customs of China reported. Total imports contracted 7.1 per cent to USD 617.1 billion.

Trade weakness adds to complications for President Xi Jinping's government, which is trying to revive economic growth that sank last year to 3 per cent, the second-weakest rate since the 1970s. The ruling Communist Party set this year's growth target at “around 5 per cent."