The statistics underlined the basic challenge policy makers face as they strive to make the nation's 1.3 billion people spend more and have domestic spending account for a larger share of growth in Asia's second-largest economy, analysts argued.

"Investment is the largest growth engine, and the second engine is exports. Consumption is just a follower, not a driver," said Chen Xingdong, chief China economist with BNP Paribas Peregrine in Beijing.

"It's not easy for the government to change. Consumption is determined by consumers, not determined by the government," he said.

China's gross domestic product expanded by 10.2 percent in the first quarter of the year, making it the world's fastest growing major economy, but that is not the only thing that puts the country in a league of its own.

The consumer price index, the main inflation gauge, rose just 1.2 percent last month from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday.

To some economists, who looked at the figure against the backdrop of double-digit growth, it sounded odd, bordering on the unbelievable.

"It begs the question whether these figures are accurate, are they really reflecting what's going on in the economy?" said Tai Hui, a Hong Kong-based economist with Standard Chartered.

In sharp contrast to the low-inflation environment, the April trade surplus soared 128 percent from a year earlier to 10.5 billion dollars, customs authorities said Friday.

Exports in April were up 23.9 percent to 76.9 billion dollars, while imports were up by a more moderate 15.3 percent to 66.5 billion dollars, the customs authorities said.

According to observers, the data did not necessarily reflect a Chinese export juggernaut rolling on, crushing everything in its path. The interesting figure to look at was the relatively slow growth in imports.

It was, they said, a case of China's own industries, some of them with considerable excess capacity after years of investment, turning their attention to making products that have so far been imported from abroad.

The policy implications of Friday's data were mixed, but some economists argued the central bank would now not rush to curb the money supply.

"From a policy maker perspective it does offer some comfort that the inflationary environment in China is not as serious as some other economies in Asia," said Standard Chartered's Tai Hui.

"So the central bank will be left with some more room to maneuver in terms of controlling investment as well as credit growth," he said.

But if inflation goes up, analysts said one should expect resolute action from the central bank, which has just signaled it is prepared to take drastic steps to prevent the economy from spinning out of control.

Late last month it made a surprise announcement that the one-year benchmark lending rate would rise by 27 basis points to 5.85 percent in an effort to put a brake on credit and control the "excessively fast" release of bank loans.

As for the trade surplus, China will need time to bring it down, according to BNP Paribas Peregrine's Chen.

"Export growth should slow down, and actually it has already slowed down, but import substitution plays a major role," he said.

"I don't think there's any way for China to change this picture any time soon. But one thing China can do is to try and slow down exports gradually, rather than sharply."

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