China's Exports Surge 44.5 Percent In February

China’s exports unexpectedly surged at the fastest pace in three years in February, suggesting its economic growth remains resilient even as trade relations with the United States rapidly deteriorate.

Trade tensions have jumped to the top of the list of risks facing China this year, with proposed US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports suggesting more measures may be on the way, Zhou Hao, senior emerging markets economist at Commerzbank, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum this week.

China’s February exports rose 44.5 percent from a year earlier, compared with analysts’ median forecast for a 13.6 percent increase, and an 11.1 percent gain in January, official data showed on Thursday.

Imports grew 6.3 percent, the General Administration of Customs said, missing analysts’ forecast for 9.7 percent growth, and down from a sharper-than-expected 36.9 percent jump in January.

Analysts caution Chinese data early in the year can be heavily distorted by the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in February this year but in January in 2017.

But combined January-February trade data also showed a dramatic acceleration in export growth.

Exports rose 24.4 percent on-year in Jan-Feb, much better than 10.8 percent in December and 4 percent growth in Jan-Feb last year. (Reuters)