China's foreign trade continued to improve in April, though imports were moderate.

In April, foreign trade totaled $300 billion, soaring 25.9 percent from a year ago, said the General Administration of Customs. Of this total, exports edged up 29.9 percent year on year to $155.7 billion, while imports totaled $144.3 billion, up 21.8 percent, slowing from 27.3 percent in March. The April trade surplus came in at $11.43 billion, reversing a trade deficit of $1.02 billion in the January-to-March period.

China's export growth is "still quite robust," spurred by Japanese imports of consumer staples after the earthquake, said a report by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

"The slowing import growth might worry some investors who are concerned about an economic hard landing in China," said Ting Lu, an economist at the bank. "China's export growth is definitely positive, which displays strong resilience under the headwinds of rising labor costs, rising interest rates, appreciation of the yuan and surging raw material prices."

Zuo Xiaolei, chief economist with the China Galaxy Securities Co. Ltd. believed a slack in imports was in part because of a high comparison base in the same period last year.

It also reflected waning domestic demands as the broader economy loses some momentum, he said.

For the entire year, China will see its trade surplus shrink to around $120 billion, compared with $183.1 billion in 2010, said Peng Wensheng, chief economist at the China International Capital Corp. Ltd.