China's trade surplus widened significantly in April, boosted by a sharp jump in exports that surpassed market expectations amid geopolitical conflicts.

The trade surplus grew to $84.8 billion in April from $51.1 billion in March, according to a release from China's customs administration on Saturday.

The increase came as exports grew 14.1% year over year to $359.4 billion, faster than the 2.5% jump in exports in March and against analysts' 7.9% growth forecast in a Reuters poll.

Analysts attributed the expansion to companies rushing to fulfill a wave of overseas orders to beat war-driven costs, according to a Reuters report.

Meanwhile, exports to the US rose 11.3%, the fastest in 15 months, amid a widening merchandise trade deficit, Bloomberg said.

China's external growth trend is seen to expand this year, and the next few months could benefit from a rebound in exports to the US, ING analysts said in a note on Saturday.

Semiconductors could also push exports upward, according to Reuters.

"The conflict in the Middle East pushed up demand for global manufacturing inventory replenishment, and under the upward cycle of semiconductors, ​imports and exports maintained a boom," the newswire quoted ANZ (ASX:ANZ, NZE:ANZ) Senior China Strategist Xing Zhaopeng as saying.

While the conflict in Iran is contributing a little to a halt in overseas sales, economic activity indicators stayed weak, Bloomberg Economics said.

Meanwhile, imports climbed 15.3% to $274.6 billion, slower than the 27.8% expansion in March, but slightly faster than the 15.2% market forecast.

China's total goods trade reached $634.1 billion in the first four months of 2026, up 18.7% from the previous year.