World Bulletin / News Desk

Chinese exports surged in March, the largest jump in two years, in the latest sign of robust global demand as concerns ease over a possible trade war with the US after President Donald Trump softened his stance on Beijing.

Trump, who had a cordial summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, reversed course on an election campaign promise to label Beijing a currency manipulator and slap punitive tariffs on Chinese imports.

He traded in his acerbic denouncements of the Asian giant's "rape" of the US economy for warm praise, telling a press conference he was "very impressed" and shared "a very good chemistry" with Xi.

In a positive sign for the Chinese economy, exports jumped 16.4 percent year-on-year to $180.6 billion in March, the country's customs agency said, marking a dramatic turnaround from the 1.3 percent year-on-year drop recorded in February.

Imports also rose 20.3 percent year-on-year to $156.7 billion last month, Customs said, while the trade surplus increased to $23.9 billion.

A pickup in external demand, surging import prices, and a stable domestic economy boosted the figures, Customs spokesman Huang Songping told a press briefing on Thursday.

The March data "reflects strong domestic demand, particularly investment demand," Zhao Yang of Nomura said in a note.

"China has finally caught up with the rest of Asia with the end of the trade recession," Raymond Yeung of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group told Bloomberg News.