China’s exports jump 15.3 percent in May

A Chinese worker operates a machine at a factory in Binzhou, northeast China's Shandong province. China's exports and imports shot up in May year-on-year, the customs agency said Sunday defying expectations amid a slowdown in the world's second largest economy. AFP

BEIJING – China’s exports jumped in May from a year earlier, the government said Sunday, although the increase was unlikely to be enough to ease pressure on the country’s leaders to reverse a sharp economic slump.

Export growth climbed a robust 15.3 percent compared to May 2011, up from April’s 4.9 percent, while imports climbed 12.1 percent year on year compared with the previous month’s increase of 0.3 percent, according to customs data.

China’s global trade surplus widened to $18.7 billion.