Trend break: Unexpected setback for China's exports

Exports to the US plummeted by just over 25 percent, while exports to the rest of the world rose 3.1 percent.

A sustained decline in China's exports could make it difficult to reach the country's official growth targets - something that is already being made more difficult by a protracted real estate crisis and weak domestic demand, according to Yingke Zhou, an economist at major bank Barclays.