TOKYO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Japan booked a goods trade surplus in April from a year earlier of 60.4 billion yen (546 million U.S. dollars), owing to falling exports amid ongoing global trade issues, the government said in a report Wednesday.

According to the Finance Ministry's preliminary data, while the reading marked the third straight month of black ink, the surplus tumbled 90.3 percent in the recording month from a year earlier.

The ministry said exports had dropped for a fifth straight month to 6.66 trillion yen (60.32 billion U.S. dollars), falling 2.4 percent, while imports had increased by 6.4 percent to 6.60 trillion yen (59.78 billion U.S. dollars) in the recording period.

Exports to China, Japan's largest trading partner, fell 6.3 percent on year, the ministry said, marking a second straight month of decline, while imports jumped 5.9 percent, which equates to a 318.3 billion yen (2.88 billion U.S. dollars) deficit with the world's second-largest economy.

Japan logged a surplus of 3.4 billion yen (30.78 million U.S. dollars) with the European Union, the ministry said, but saw its surplus to Asian countries including China retreat 36.8 percent to 450.1 billion yen (4.07 billion U.S. dollars) in the recording period.