China's foreign trade volume up 37% in April

China's foreign trade volume surged by 37 percent year on year to $484.99 billion in April 2021, with both imports and exports continuing a strong rebound, data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed on Friday.

Exports rose by 32.3 percent in April from a year ago to $263.92 billion, compared with the year-on-year growth of 30.6 percent seen in March, and above the prediction of 24.5 percent by Bloomberg.

"Two factors likely contributed to the strong export growth. First, the U.S. economy is booming, boosting global demand. Secondly, the COVID-19 crisis in India caused a delay in production, therefore some orders were shifted to China," Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist of Pinpoint Asset Management told CGTN.

Zhang expected the country's export growth will stay strong into the second half of this year, as the two factors above will likely continue to favor Chinese manufacturers.

"Export will be a key pillar for growth in China this year. It also helps renminbi to perform well among emerging market currencies," Zhang said.

Imports soared by 43.1 percent last month on an annual basis to $221.06 billion, up from the year-on-year growth of 38.1 percent in March, slightly lower than an estimated rise of 44.4 percent forecast by Bloomberg.

The country's total imports and exports surged by 38.2 percent to about $1.8 trillion in the first four months of 2021, according to GAC.