Shanghai copper rose to a three-week high on Friday and clocked a second straight weekly gain, buoyed by strong import numbers in China and signs that the Sino-US trade deal would be implemented despite the coronavirus disruption.

Copper gained 1.2% in Shanghai over the holiday-shortened week, which had seen the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed on Monday and Tuesday before reopening on Wednesday.

The London Metal Exchange is closed on Friday for the early May bank holiday.

The most-traded June copper contract on the ShFE rose as much as 1.9% to 43,610 yuan ($6,162.39) a tonne, the highest since April 17, before ending at 43,510 yuan.

China's imports of unwrought copper rose 4.4% from the previous month to around 460,000 tonnes in April, while copper concentrate imports topped 2 million tonnes.

"Tighter scrap regulations in China, mine supply disruptions in South America and a revival in business activities kept refined copper imports strong," ANZ said in a note.

Shanghai zinc climbed for a fifth day, rising as much as 2.3% to 17,950 yuan a tonne, its highest since Feb. 24 before closing up 1.9%. Aluminium closed down 0.4% after hitting a one-week low of 12,510 yuan a tonne, while nickel ended down 0.1%, lead finished flat and tin added 0.9%.

Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the ShFE fell for the eighth week in a row, dropping 11.6% to 204,219 tonnes, the exchange said on Friday. Aluminium stocks were down 5.3% at 388,899 tonnes.