BEIJING — China reported strong import growth in March in a possible positive sign for its recovery but analysts said the trade data might be inflated and give a distorted picture of the economy's health.
Imports rose 14.1 percent after growing 5 percent rate for the combined January-February period, customs data showed Wednesday, suggesting Chinese manufacturers and consumers might be buying more.
Export growth slowed to 10 percent from the previous two-month period's 23.6 percent. That could add to challenges for newly installed Communist Party leaders as they try to sustain the rebound from China's deepest downturn since the 2008 global crisis and avoid job losses.
Analysts said, though, the data might be distorted by companies misreporting trade or government manipulation, clouding the picture of whether an economic recovery is gaining traction.
Exports probably are even lower than reported, based on what is known about shipments into Hong Kong, said Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings, a Hong Kong-based investment company. Hong Kong is Chinese territory and handles a big share of the mainland's trade but is treated as a separate customs region.
"The figures in Hong Kong to and from China do not add up," he said. "Instead of 10 percent growth, you have 2 or 3 percent."
China's economic growth rose to 7.9 percent in the three months ending in December, up from the previous quarter's 7.4 percent. Analysts say the recovery from the country's deepest downturn since the 2008 global crisis is being propped up by government spending and could be vulnerable if trade or state-driven investment weakens.
Commentators raised questions after China's strong trade data failed to match up with much lower figures reported by its trading partners.
Some suggested companies might be reporting phony exports to get tax rebates or to evade Beijing's strict capital controls and move money into China with fictitious billing of foreign customers. Others say Beijing might have exaggerated trade volume to make the economy look healthier during the transition to new Communist Party leaders in recent months.
"Today's trade data release has not instilled any more confidence in either the quality of data or the strength of the recovery," said IHS Global Insight analyst Alistair Thornton in a report.
Other indicators show economic activity recovering but at a slow pace. A survey of manufacturing by a Chinese industry group showed activity improved in March but by only a fraction of one point on a 100-point scale.
Also in March, inflation fell, suggesting consumer demand might be weaker than authorities hoped.
Referring to February's explosive reported export growth, Alaistair Chan of Moody's Analytics said in a report, "It now seems that it was probably due to some issue with the reporting of exports, or possibly over-invoicing as firms evaded capital controls to bring in more foreign capital."
Chinese customs officials defended their data Wednesday at a news conference.
"Every dollar that is listed in the customs trade data can be traced back to an actual declaration form," said Zheng Yuesheng, a spokesman for the bureau. "The exported or imported goods listed on the declaration form have to be something shipped across the border, either in or out."
Beijing's capital controls and tax breaks and other privileges for foreign investors give Chinese companies an incentive to covertly bring in money from abroad. Economists believe a large share of China's reported foreign investment is money sent abroad by Chinese companies and "round-tripped" back into the country.
China's trade is volatile in the first few months of each year as companies shut down for several weeks during the Lunar New Year and then buy raw materials to resume production.
March exports rose to $182.2 billion while imports were $183.1 billion, leaving a rare monthly deficit of $900 million, according to the General Administration of Customs.
The trade surplus with the United States narrowed by 34 percent from a year earlier to $11 billion. The surplus with the 27-nation European Union shrank 35 percent to $5.3 billion.
Exports to Germany, China's biggest European trading partner, fell 7 percent while shipments to France declined 6.7 percent.
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AP Business Writer Pamela Sampson in Bangkok and researcher Flora Ji in Beijing contributed.
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General Administration of Customs of China: www.customs.gov.cn
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