China's trade surplus plunged to 6.87 billion U.S. dollars in March, to less than a third of what it was in February, figures released by the General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday.

The growth rate of exports in March compared to the same period last year was 6.9 percent, a five-year low.

We don't need to be panic over the sharp decline since China is stepping up efforts to reduce trade surplus, said Zhang Yansheng, an economist with the National Development and Reform Commission.

However, we do need to watch closely the long-term effects of the policies, he said.

Meanwhile, some economists believe the sharp rise in February and deep slump in March were caused by exporters delivering March orders in February in order to avoid losing out on export tax rebates.

China has cut export tax rebates on some basic metals and textiles to discourage firms from selling overseas.

China's exports in March grew 6.9 percent to 83.4 billion U.S. dollars while imports grew by 14.5 percent year on year to reach 76.6 billion U.S dollars.

The country's trade volume in March reached 160 billion U.S. dollars, up 10.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the administration.

China's first-quarter trade volume came to 457.74 billion U.S. dollars, up 23.3 percent year on year. Exports reached 252.09 billion U.S. dollars, up 27.8 percent year on year, while imports amounted to 205.65 billion U.S. dollars, up 18.2 percent year on year.

China's trade volume with the Europe Union, its largest trade partner, reached 75.39 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter, up 30.3 percent year on year. Total trade with the U.S. hit 66.72 billion dollars, up 20.1 percent year on year. Trade volume with Japan reached 52.91 billion dollars, up 15.2 percent year on year.

星期二据海关总署发布的数据,三月份中国的贸易顺差降到68.7亿美元,不及二月份的三分之一. 三月份出口增长率同比增长为6.9%,是五年来的最低的。国家发改委的一位叫张燕胜的经济学家说，由于中国正在加紧努力减少贸易顺差，人们不必要对顺差的急剧下降感到恐慌。但是他又说我们必须紧密观察这项政策的长期效果。同时一些经济学家也认为二月份顺差的急剧上升与三月份顺差的大幅下跌是由于出口商为避免损失出口退税，在二月份就交付了三月份的订单所造成的。中国为了不鼓励企业向海外销售，已经对一些基本金属和纺织品减少了出口退税。中国三月份的出口同比增长6.9%,达到834亿美元,同时进口同比增长14.5%,达到766亿美元. 据海关总署统计,三月份中国进出口贸易总额为1600亿美元,同比增长10.4%. 中国一季度贸易额同比增长23.3%,达到4577.4亿美元.其中出口为2520.9亿美元,同比增长27.8%;进口量达到2056.5亿美元,同比增长18.2%. 中国同最大的贸易伙伴欧盟的贸易额在一季度达到753.9亿美元,同比增长30.3%.同美国的贸易总额达到667.2亿美元,同比增长20.1%.同日本的贸易额达529.1亿美元,同比增长15.2%.