BEIJING, May 7 (Reuters) - China extended its impressive trade performance in April, with exports unexpectedly accelerating and import growth hitting a decade high, in a boost to the world"s second-largest economy. Exports in dollar terms surged 32.3% from a year earlier to $263.92 billion, China"s General Administration of Customs said on Friday, beating analysts" forecast of 24.1% and the 30.6% growth reported in March. Imports were also impressive, rising 43.1% from a year earlier, the fastest gain since January 2011 and picking up from the 38.1% growth in March. It was also slightly faster than the 42.5% rise tipped by the Reuters poll, bolstered by higher commodity prices. Following is a breakdown of China"s exports and imports with its biggest trade partners in April. April Exports Imports Balance Exports Imports Exports Imports ($bln) ($bln) ($bln) +/- % y/y +/- % y/y +/- % m/m +/- % m/m Japan 13.7 18.5 -4.7 0.4% 25.2% 1.3% -4.1% South 12.5 17.5 -5.0 23.1% 29.5% 7.3% -1.6% Korea Taiwan 6.7 19.4 -12.7 30.1% 25.5% 9.6% -8.8% European 39.9 26.8 13.1 23.8% 43.3% 9.2% -2.6% Union USA 42.1 13.9 28.1 31.2% 51.7% 8.8% -19.4% Australia 5.3 14.9 -9.6 19.7% 49.3% 16.9% 13.0% ASEAN 41.1 31.4 9.7 42.1% 40.6% 8.9% -5.2% (Reporting by Stella Qiu and Kevin Yao; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.