Exports increased by 1.5% year-on-year, while imports rose by 8.4%.

The data suggests that recent policy support measures may be helping to boost investor and consumer confidence.

However, some economists believe that the export growth was due to a lower base for comparison in the previous month.

In Q1 2024, both China's imports and exports grew 1.5% year-on-year.

However, concerns arose due to weak March figures.

In April, China's crude oil imports increased by 5.45% to around 10.88 million barrels per day, as refiners prepared for the Labor Day holiday travel season.

During the holiday, China recorded over 1.3 billion passenger trips, a 2.1% increase from the previous year, with highway traffic up 2.1% and air trips surging 8.1%.

In April, domestic airline seat capacity increased by 1.3% compared to the same month last year.

China's manufacturing sector showed a modest recovery.

Natural gas imports rose by 14.7% to 10.30 million tonnes, while prices for liquefied natural gas in Asia decreased by 11.3% from the previous year and were down 43% from the October peak.

Exports of refined oil products increased by 21.46% to 4.55 million tonnes.

China's coal imports also rose by 11% to 45.25 million tonnes due to lower domestic production and increased buying by power generators for summer stockpiles.

China's coal imports increased by 9.4% in April compared to March, but were still 2 million tonnes less than the record set in December.

The rise in imports is due to a decrease in domestic coal production, which fell 4% year-on-year during the first quarter.

This decline is attributed to a series of safety inspections and deadly accidents in Shanxi, China's top coal-producing province.