Defying expectations, China posted its first trade deficit in March since February 2012 on surging imports, completely out of whack with market forecasts. Added to that, the world's second largest economy saw export growth of 10 percent year on year while exports to the U.S. and Europe, its two biggest markets, continued to slump, which is making analysts question the reliability of its trade data. Alistair Thornton, senior China economist at financial analysis firm IHS, said the March trade numbers have not instilled anymore confidence in either the quality of China's data or the strength of its economic recovery. ... (full story)