KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's exports in March rose by 8.4 percent from a year earlier, in line with expectations, and the trade surplus that month was significantly higher than expected, data showed on Wednesday.

Imports rose 0.5 percent from a year ago, below expectations, due to a 3.4 percent drop in intermediate goods.

A Reuters poll forecast a 8.5 percent rise in exports and a 5.2 percent rise in imports from March 2013.

The March trade surplus was 9.6 billion ringgit ($3.0 billion), according to data from the Statistics Department.

Fourteen economists had forecast a surplus of 7.4 billion ringgit, compared to 10.4 billion ringgit in February.

Exports to China, traditionally Malaysia's largest trade partner though second to Singapore in March, decreased 1.8 percent from a year earlier due to a decline in commodity shipments.