OREANDA-NEWS. May 16, 2011. China's trade surplus rose to 11.43 billion U.S. dollars in April this year, according to figures released Tuesday by the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

The country reported a small trade surplus of 140 million dollars in March, on the basis of a deficit of 7.3 billion U.S. dollars in February -- the country's first since March 2010.

China's exports increased 29.9 percent in April from a year earlier to 155.69 billion U.S. dollars, while imports rose 21.8 percent year on year to reach 144.26 billion U.S. dollars, the GAC said.

Last month, the growth rate of exports was 5.9 percentage points down from March while that of imports was 5.5 percentage points lower month on month.

In April, the total value of imports and exports increased 25.9 percent year on year to 299.95 billion dollars, it said.