China trade surplus expands in December as exports rise

Chinese exports grew in December for the first time in six months.Thus, the trade surplus exceeded 382 billion yuan. Meanwhile imports declined for the fourteenth-consecutive month and this also helped the trade surplus to expand.

Chinese trade figures for December came in much better than anticipated, with exports unexpectedly rising and imports falling less than forecast.

The trade surplus expanded from 343.10 billion yuan in November to 382.05 billion yuan in December, according to the Customs General Administration of China (CGAC), while analysts expected the surplus to contract to 338.80 billion yuan.

Exports rose 2.3% year-on-year last month, doing much better than the 4.1% decline forecast by markets. Imports were down 4% over the same period, almost half the decline anticipated, but are now on a 14-month losing streak.

In dollar terms, the trade balance stood at $60.09 billion in the reported month, beating analysts' predictions of $51.30 billion. Both exports and imports tightened their declines in December, coming in at 1.4% and 7.6%, respectively.

Still,the first rise in exports since June means China's export-dependant economylikely faced its weakest expansion in 25 years last year.