HONG KONG — Trade figures for April released by the Chinese government on Wednesday morning were slightly better than economists expected, but still indicated that demand was fairly weak in foreign markets and in China itself.

Exports and imports both increased last month compared with a year earlier, but the figures were harder than usual to interpret because April of last year was so weak. Imports and exports all but stopped growing in April of last year as a wide range of industries, perceiving a short, sharp domestic economic slowdown that would last until early autumn, stopped buying industrial commodities, even as foreign buyers cut orders as well.

Compared with that weak base, China’s trade figures for last month looked somewhat better. Exports rose 14.7 percent from a year ago, while imports increased 16.8 percent.

But the trade figures were far from strong enough to suggest that foreign demand could pull China out of what seems to be a deepening economic malaise. Although official figures still show the economy steaming along at a growth rate of nearly 8 percent, a range of purchasing manager surveys last month showed growing worry among business executives across China.