Japan exported significantly more in April than a month earlier and also more than expected. This was shown by government figures on Thursday.
Exports increased by 38.0 percent year-on-year, while economists expected an increase of 32.1 percent. In March, exports increased by more than 16 percent year-on-year.
Exports to China increased by 33.9 percent, to the US by 45.1 percent and to Europe by 39.6 percent more than a year earlier.
Japanese imports increased by 12.8 percent in April.
This brought the trade surplus to 255.3 billion yen, which was more than economists expected. They assumed a surplus of 143.8 billion yen.