China’s March exports grow despite virus; imports flat

China’s exports rose 15.7% in March over a year earlier while imports were flat due to disruptions from coronavirus outbreaks, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.

Exports rose to $276.1 billion despite anti-virus controls in Shanghai and other industrial centers that caused factories to reduce production, customs data showed Wednesday. Imports rose less than 1% to $228.7 billion.

The ruling Communist Party “zero-tolerance” anti-virus strategy is weighing on consumer and factory activity by confining most of Shanghai’s 25 million people to their homes and suspended access to other manufacturing centers.