Chinese imports slumped in March, driven by a slowdown in US trade amid the tense standoff between Washington and Beijing, raising renewed questions over the strength of the Chinese economy.

Imports fell by 7.6% in March compared with a year earlier, worse than City economists’ forecasts for the volume of goods bought from abroad to grow by 0.2%.

It also comes after Chinese imports slid by 5.2% in February, suggesting that there has been a sustained decline in domestic demand.

Analysts said the trade standoff between the US and China was a likely factor behind the slowdown. Washington and Beijing have imposed higher tariffs on imports, which have served as a drag on global trade.

The latest snapshot revealed that US imports plummeted by 28% during the first three months of the year, while exports to the US slipped by 3.7%.

Soy bean imports to China fell by more than 14% this year – a product on which Beijing slapped 25% tariffs for imports from the US after President Donald Trump put US tariffs on Chinese goods.

Car sales also fell by 5.2% on the year to March, continuing a trend for declining sales under way since last summer. Chinese car sales dropped last year for the first time in almost 30 years, in a negative development for European car manufacturers that have made China an increasingly important export market.

The International Monetary Fund said this week that global growth would slow this year as levels of protectionism rise. However, hopes remain that a deal can be reached between Washington and Beijing soon, after Trump said last week that an agreement could be reached in about four weeks.

Despite the slowdown for imports, Chinese exports surged by more than expected in March, as sales around the globe grew by 14.2%. The country’s trade surplus – the gap between exports and imports – jumped to $32.6bn (£24.9bn), from $4.1bn in February.

The mixed picture may, however, have been influenced by the timing of Chinese New Year, as activity in the Chinese economy is often distorted by the celebration – which fell on 5 February in 2019.

Economists said the sharp rebound in exports was surprisingbut warned that exports have yet to fully recover from a sharp slowdown late last year. Imports could strengthen with the help of a stimulus package from Beijing.

Chinese data released on Friday showed the country’s banks extended 1.69tn yuan (£193bn) of new loans in March, more than the 1.25tn yuan predicted by economists, in a sign the People’s Bank of China tried to pump up the economy.

Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at the consultancy Capital Economics, said: “While import volumes are likely to remain subdued, they will probably recover somewhat in the near-term as policy stimulus helps to shore up demand.”