BEIJING -- China's exports in March were down by double digits from a year earlier, but the decline was smaller than in February, the latest sign that the economy could be over the worst of a slump induced by the global credit crunch.
Exports in March fell 17.1 percent from a year earlier to $90.29 billion, the fifth straight monthly drop, the General Administration of Customs announced Friday.
In February, the country's exports plummeted 25.7 percent year-on-year, the worst decline in more than a decade.
"This indicates a sign of improvement in the country's foreign trade," the customs agency said.
The agency noted that exports in March rose 32.8 percent from February while imports grew 14 percent month-on-month.
China's export industries, which account for about 40 percent of its GDP, have been hit hard as orders from the United States and other countries dry up during the current world economic crisis.
The slowing decline did not come as a surprise to analysts but the fall is smaller than expected.
Economists polled by Reuters expected a 21.5 percent fall in March.
Helen Qiao and Yu Song at Goldman Sachs believed that the latest figure shows that the word's third largest economy is gaining strength, due in part to rapid loan growth.
Chinese banks extended a record 1.87 trillion yuan in new loans in March, two state newspapers reported on Tuesday.
The export figures came three days after the World Bank said that China is likely to emerge from its economic slump later this year, helping the rest of Asia stabilize and possibly rebound.
"A ray of hope may be emerging with signs of China's economy bottoming out by mid-2009," the bank said Tuesday in a statement. "A recovery in China -- fueled largely by the country's huge economic stimulus package -- is likely to begin this year and take full hold in 2010, potentially contributing to the region's stabilization, and perhaps recovery."
China Association of Automobile Manufacturers revealed Thursday that China's auto sales hit a monthly record of 1.11 million vehicles in March, exceeding US sales for the third month in a row.
Imports in March slumped 25.1 percent year-on-year to $71.73 billion, compared with a 24.1-percent decline in February.
Total import and export value was $162.02 billion last month, down 20.9 percent year-on-year.
Trade surplus rose to $18.56 billion, up 41.2 percent from a year earlier. This was compared with $4.84 billion in February.

KASHGAR, Xinjiang -- Two men were executed in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region yesterday for last August's terrorist attack on border police that left 17 dead and 15 injured.
The Intermediate People's Court of Kashgar prefecture announced the death penalties, approved by the Supreme People's Court, before an audience of about 4,000 local officials and residents at a stadium in Kashgar city prior to the executions.
Abdurahman Azat, 34, and Kurbanjan Hemit, 29, both locals of Kashgar, were executed elsewhere, out of public sight, but details are unknown.
They had been convicted of intentional homicide and illegally producing guns, ammunition and explosives, according to verdicts announced by the Supreme People's Court on Dec 17 last year.
The Kashgar court found the two carried out the terrorist attack on Aug 4 to "sabotage" the Beijing Olympic Games that began on Aug 8, 2008.
The court heard they bought materials to make explosives, two guns and ammunition in February and March, and chose to attack border police in a town of Kashgar, near China's border with Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Armed with guns, explosives, knives and axes, they drove a heavy truck that they had stolen to the site around 6 am.
Two hours later, Abdurahman Azat drove the truck toward a team of more than 70 police - who were on a regular morning exercise - killing 15 and injuring 13.
When the truck overturned he detonated the explosives, killing another person.
At the same time, Kurbanjan Hemit threw explosives at the gate of the police station and wielded a knife at the police who had been run over by the truck. He killed one policeman and injured two others.
The two were arrested at the scene.

Confucius美音：[kən'fjuʃəs]英音：[kən'fju:ʃjəs]

Confucius was born in 551 BC in the State of Lu in modern-day Shandong. Born to parents of semi-nobility, he rose through the years to become the Minister of Justice in Lu, but became disenfranchised with the corruption of those he served and eventually resigned from his post. At the age of 53 he set out on a set of journeys around northeastern China, expounding his political beliefs to the various kingdoms he visited during the age of Chinese history known as the Spring and Autumn Period. And much like he did at that time, Confucius' teachings are again spreading across borders to enlighten and educate people

The 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar year is an important day for the Chinese people. The day is called Duan Wu Festival, or Dragon Boat Festival, celebrated everywhere in China. This festival dates back to about 2,000 years ago with a number of legends explaining its origin. The best-known story centers on a great patriotic poet named Qu Yuan.The customs vary a lot in different areas of the country, but most of the families would hang the picture of Zhong Kui (a ghost that can exorcise), calamus and moxa in their houses. People have Dragon Boat Races, eat Zong Zi (dumpling made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves) and carry a spice bag around with them.Zhong KuiZhong Kui is the exorcist par excellence. His picture, a fierce-looking male brandishing a magic sword, used to be hung up in Chinese houses in order to scare away evil spirits and demons, especially in the time of Dragon Boat Festival. Hanging Calamus and MoxaOn this day, most of the families would also hang calamus and moxa (oriental plants) on the front door. This is also to ward off evil.Dragon Boat RaceThe main event of the festivities is the Dragon Boat Race. These boats are long and thin with dragon heads on the bow of the ships. The boat races are said to represent the search for Qu‘s body, with racing boats in a forward rowing motion, to the rhythm of beating drums. Zong ZiQu Yuan drowned on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 277 BC. Since ancient times, Chinese people threw into the water dumpling made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves on the day. Therefore the fish would eat the rice rather than the hero poet. This later on turned into the custom of eating Zong Zi. Realgar WineIt is a very popular practice to drink this kind of Chinese liquor seasoned with realgar at the Dragon Boat Festival. This is for protection from evil and disease for the rest of the year.Spice Bag It‘s believed that if you carry the small spice bag around with you, it not only drives away evil spirits but also brings fortune and happiness to those who wear it. The small bags are hand-made by local craftsmen. They‘re made with red, yellow, green and blue silk, fine satin or cotton. Figures of animals, flowers and fruits are often embroidered onto the bags and inside are mixed Chinese herbal medicines.

Tai Ji Quanis a major division of Chinese martial art. Literally, Tai Ji Quan means "supreme ultimate fist";

Tai means "supreme", Ji means "ultimate", and Quan means "fist."

Tai Ji Quan has its philosophical roots in Taoism and is considered an internal martial art, utilizing internal energy, or Qi, and following the simple principle of "subduing the vigorous by the soft". Taoism is the oldest philosophy in China which is represented by the famous symbol ofYin and Yangwhich expresses the continuous flow of Qi in a circular motion that generates two opposite forces, plus and minus, which interact and balance each other to bring existence to the physical and metaphysical world.

The Qingming Festival is one of the 24 seasonal division points in China, falling on April 4-6 each year. The Qingming Festival is a festival of commemoration.


The Qingming Festival sees a combination of sadness and happiness. This is the most important day of sacrifice. Both the Han and minority ethnic groups at this time offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the tombs of the diseased. Also, they will not cook on this day and only cold food is served. On each Qingming Festival, all cemeteries are crowded with people who came to sweep tombs and offer sacrifices. Traffic on the way to the cemeteries becomes extremely jammed.



The customs have been greatly simplified today. After slightly sweeping the tombs, people offer food, flowers and favorites of the dead, then burn incense and paper money and bow before the memorial tablet. In contrast to the sadness of the tomb sweepers, people also enjoy hope of Spring on this day. The Qingming Festival is a time when the sun shines brightly, the trees and grass become green and nature is again lively. Since ancient times, people have followed the custom of Spring outings. At this time tourists are everywhere.


People love to fly kites during the Qingming Festival. Kite flying is actually not limited to the Qingming Festival. Its uniqueness lies in that people fly kites not during the day, but also at night. A string of little lanterns tied onto the kite or the thread look like shining stars, and therefore, are called "god's lanterns."


The Qingming Festival is also a time to plant trees, for the survival rate of saplings is high and trees grow fast later. In the past, the Qingming Festival was called "Arbor Day". But since 1979, "Arbor Day" was settled as March 12 according to the Gregorian calendar.