China's international trade performance rebounded from a weak March to deliver better-than-expected figures for April 2018.

The Asian superpower's exports rose by 12.9 per cent year-on-year, exceeding the 6.3 per cent rise predicted by analysts polled by Reuters. This represented an improvement from the 2.7 percent decline seen in March, which was distorted by seasonal factors.

Meanwhile, imports grew by 21.5 per cent for the month, which was higher than the projection of 16 per cent and compared favorably with the 14.4 per cent figure from March.

It means China was able to record a trade surplus of $28.78 billion (€24.2 billion) for the month, above expectations of a $24.7 billion surplus. This comes after the world's largest exporter posted a rare trade deficit of $4.98 billion in March.

China has so far enjoyed a strong trade performance in 2018 driven by sustained demand at home and abroad, especially compared to 2017's weak momentum. However, the ongoing trade conflict with the US could put this recovery at risk, if it escalates further.