China stocks fell on Friday as softer-than-expected exports in March rekindled worries over the health of the world's second largest economy amid rising trade tensions with the United States. The blue-chip CSI300 index closed down 0.7 percent at 3,871.14, while the Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.7 percent to 3,159.05. For the week, CSI300 gained 0.4 percent, while SSEC was up 0.9 percent.
China's exports growth unexpectedly fell in March, the first drop since February last year, raising questions about the health of one of the economy's key growth drivers even as trade tensions rapidly escalate with the United States. Analysts said the trade threats may already be having an impact on exporters' activity. "We believe export growth will slow due to yuan appreciation and rising trade tensions," said Lisheng Wang, an economist at Nomura in Hong Kong. Sectors fell across the board, led by healthcare firms, as investors expect domestic pharmaceutical companies to bear the brunt of tariff removal on imported drugs.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.1 percent, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.55 percent. At 07:08 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.288 per US dollar, 0.07 percent firmer than the previous close of 6.2922. The largest percentage gainers on the main Shanghai Composite index were CCS Supply Chain Management Co Ltd up 10 percent, followed by Qian Jiang Water Resources Development Co Ltd gaining 10 percent and Tellhow Sci-Tech Co Ltd up by 9.99 percent.
The largest percentage losses on the Shanghai index were Shanghai Feilo Acoustics Co Ltd down 10.03 percent, followed by Tederic Machinery Co Ltd losing 9.98 percent and Zhe Jiang Dong Ri Ltd Co down by 9.07 percent. As of 07:09 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 22.71 percent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.