BEIJING, July 13, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - China's export growth surged more than

expected in June after its largest city eased lockdown rules, official data
showed Wednesday, but imports fell while lingering Covid controls kept
consumers jittery.

Business hub Shanghai reopened in June after being sealed off for two months
to stamp out a coronavirus resurgence, helping to improve a backlog of goods.

But China is the only major economy still holding fast to a zero-Covid
strategy with snap lockdowns and long quarantines, battering business
activity and holding back a consumption recovery.

In June, exports rose more than expected at 17.9 percent on-year, up from
16.9 percent the month before, customs data showed Wednesday.

"We are expecting some of the backlogs to be clearing since companies in
Shanghai have been able to operate with lockdown measures lifted in June,"
Moody's Analytics economist Heron Lim told AFP.

Growth in foreign trade "picked up significantly in May and June" on the back
of an improving virus situation, policies to stabilise growth, and work
resumption, customs spokesman Li Kuiwen told reporters Wednesday.

But imports rose just one percent, far below the four percent forecast in a
Bloomberg survey of analysts.

"Although there are still some unstable and uncertain factors, domestic
production and demand is gradually recovering and enterprises have quickly
resumed work... in the second half of the year, imports and exports will
maintain stable growth," Li said.

But he cautioned that the pandemic and international environment have become
more "severe and complex", warning that there remain uncertainties in foreign
trade.

China's economic data this week, including gross domestic product and retail
sales figures due on Friday, are expected to set the stage for further policy
support as an official growth target of 5.5 percent looks increasingly out of
reach.

The country's overall trade surplus came in at $97.9 billion, from $78.8
billion in May, customs data showed.