China’s exports and imports reached US$382.3 billion in January, up 10.3% compared to the same period in 2013, according to data released by China’s General Administration of Customs.
China’s exports increased 10.6% to US$207.1 billion last month. Imports rose 10% to US$175.3 billion. The country’s trade surplus stood at US$31.9 billion in January, up 14% year-on-year.
The trade numbers came in much stronger than anticipated, suggesting that external demand remained healthy in recent months, Julian Evans-Pritchard, an economist at London-based research firm Capital Economics, writes in a report.
The higher-than-expected trade performance may be a result of over-invoicing, suggests Liu Li-Gang, chief economist of Greater China at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ).
China’s regional trading partners, such as Taiwan and South Korea, registered very weak January exports, Liu writes in a research note.
