BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s April exports rose 8.0 percent from a year earlier, missing analysts’ expectations, while imports expanded 11.9 percent, official data showed on Monday.

That left the country with a trade surplus of $38.05 billion for the month, the General Administration of Customs said.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected April shipments from the world’s largest exporter to have risen 10.4 percent. Exports rose 16.4 percent on-year in March.

Imports were expected to have climbed 18 percent, after rising 20.3 percent in March.

Analysts were expecting China’s trade surplus to have widened to $35.50 billion in April from March’s $23.93 billion.