Chinese exporters to the United States are increasingly turning to the domestic market as external demand softens, with domestic sales rising steadily in April, official tax data showed on Wednesday.

According to the State Taxation Administration, Chinese firms with export business to the US reported a 4.7 percent year-on-year rise in domestic sales last month. Domestic sales also accounted for a larger share of their overall revenue, up two percentage points from the first quarter.

Out of 31 major manufacturing sectors, 21 saw an increase in the share of domestic sales by firms that also export to the US. Leather and footwear producers saw the sharpest shift, with the domestic share of sales up 10 percentage points from a year earlier.

Other industries with notable increases included computer and telecommunications equipment, ferrous metals, furniture, and food processing, all of which recorded gains of more than five percentage points in the domestic share of their total sales in April.