BEIJING—China’s post-coronavirus recovery has been strong but uneven. A burst of data released Friday, however, suggests the world’s second-largest economy is rebalancing as consumer spending—the weak link so far in the recovery—picks up steam.
A private gauge of activity in China’s service sector soared in April to its highest level this year, while tourist travel and some consumer spending exceeded their pre-virus levels during a five-day holiday that ended Wednesday.
At the same time, China’s export sector, the key driver of the country’s economic recovery in the past year, surprised economists by posting yet another month of resilient growth, driven this time by increased shipments to India and other countries battered by recent resurgences of the virus.
China’s outbound shipments jumped 32.3% in April compared with a year earlier, data from the General Administration of Customs showed Friday—higher than March’s 30.6% year-over-year increase and far outpacing the 21% gain predicted by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
Stripping out the impact of the pandemic, last month’s exports were 36.3% higher than they were two years ago in April 2019, the customs bureau said.
