China’s foreign trade down in April

China’s April trade surplus totaled $13.14 billion but the government said Tuesday both exports and imports in April dipped for the sixth straight month.

The General Administration of Customs said April exports declined 22.6 percent compared with the same month of last year to $91.94 billion, while April imports shrank 23 percent from year-ago levels to $78.8 billion, Xinhua reported.

The report quoted an analyst as blaming the April export performance on the weakening global economic outlook, depreciation of major Asian currencies and resurgence of protectionism.

The analyst said the trend was likely to continue through the first half of the year.

China’s exports in the first four months of this year totaled $337.42 billion, down 20.5 percent from last year. Four-month imports totaled $261.99 billion, down 28.7 percent from last year.

China’s trade surplus in the first four months of this year totaled $75.43 billion.