China's much improved trade growth is not only the welcome result of the country's strenuous efforts to boost domestic consumption, it is also cause for optimism that more balanced international trade will help sustain the ongoing global recovery.

Figures from the General Administration of Customs showed that, on the back of a 29.5-percent increase in the total value of imports and exports, China saw a trade deficit of $1.02 billion from January to March this year, the first quarterly trade deficit in six years.

A monthly trade surplus of $140 million in March caught many observers by surprise. Most of them expected another monthly trade deficit in billions of US dollars given that the country had witnessed a $7.3 billion deficit in February.