Outbound shipments continued to expand at a solid pace in April, rising 8.1% from a year earlier, despite hefty U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.

China's exports rose faster than expected in April, while imports narrowed their declines, customs data showed on Friday, giving Beijing some relief ahead of ice-breaker tariff talks with the U.S. this weekend.

China’s exports growth showed resilience in April, defying expectations that the effects of a trade war with the US would start to bite. Exports grew 8.1 per cent in dollar terms compared with a year earlier,