The plunge in China’s exports and imports eased in March as factories resumed production, but shipments are set to shrink sharply over coming months as the coronavirus crisis shuts down many economies and puts the brakes on a near-term recovery. Financial markets breathed a sigh of relief after customs data on Tuesday showed overseas shipments fell 6.6% in March year-on-year, improving from a 17.2% slide in January-February, as exporters rushed to clear a backlog of orders after forced production shutdowns. Economists had forecast shipments to drop 14% from a year earlier. Yet, while the trade figures were not bad as feared, analysts say the export and overall growth outlook for the world’s second-biggest economy remains grim as the pandemic has brought business activity across the globe to a standstill. “The above-expectation March trade figures do not mean that the future is carefree,” said Zhang Yi, Beijing-based […]