BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s exports gained steam in May thanks to firmer global demand, data showed on Sunday, but an unexpected fall in imports signaled weaker domestic demand that could continue to weigh on the world’s second-largest economy. Exports rose 7 percent in May from a year earlier, quickening from April’s 0.9 percent rise, while imports fell 1.6 percent, versus a rise of 0.8 percent in April, the General Administration of Customs said. China’s trade surplus widened sharply to $35.9 billion in May from April’s $18.5 billion, the customs office said. That compared with market expectations in a Reuters poll of a 6.6 percent rise in exports, a 6.1 percent rise in imports and a monthly trade surplus of $22.6 billion. “We do not think the May trade data will change the policy stance significantly,” Louis Kuijs, an RBS economist in Hong Kong, said in a note. “While the […]