A cargo ship loaded with foreign trade containers sails towards the open sea in Jiaozhou Bay, Chengdu, Shandong, China, April 13, 2026.
Costfoto | Nurfoto | getty images
China’s export growth slowed in March as manufacturers grappled with rising commodity and energy costs due to supply disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict, while imports posted the strongest growth in more than four years.
Exports expanded 2.5% in U.S. dollar terms last month at the slowest pace in six months, Chinese customs data showed on Wednesday, missing Reuters-polled analysts’ average estimate of an 8.6% increase, and weaker than a combined 21.8% rise in the first two months of the year.
Imports in March rose 27.8% from a year earlier, the strongest increase since November 2021, sharply beating expectations for an 11.2% increase, and accelerating from 19.8% in the past two months.
China releases combined trade data for January and February due to fluctuations around the Lunar New Year, the country’s biggest holiday, which follows the agricultural calendar.
Despite rising tensions with the US and high tariffs, the world’s second-largest economy remains dependent on trade for its growth. Net exports accounted for about a third of China’s economy last year.
While Beijing’s strategic oil reserves, a diversified energy mix and tight price controls have cushioned the blow of rising oil prices, the export-dependent economy remains vulnerable to a global economic downturn resulting from the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
At a press conference on Tuesday, China’s Customs Vice Minister Wang Jun said global oil prices had experienced “huge fluctuations”, creating a “complex and severe” trade environment.
Higher commodity and energy prices resulting from the conflict have begun to impact Chinese manufacturers’ input costs, threatening to impact companies’ already thin margins. Factory-gate prices in the country rose 0.5% in March, the first increase in more than three years.
However, the consumer price index rose 1% at a slower pace than a year earlier, as domestic demand remained under pressure.
The country is scheduled to report its first-quarter gross domestic product on Thursday. Analysts polled by Reuters forecast growth of 4.8% in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared with a three-year low of 4.5%.
