China says trade growth tops forecasts in January to February
A crane loads a shipping container into a truck at an automated container port in Tianjin, China on Aug 29, 2025. (File photo: AP/Mahesh Kumar A.)
BEIJING: China's trade surged by a fifth in the first two months of the year, official data showed on Tuesday (Mar 10), significantly outpacing forecasts despite a plunge in shipments to the United States.
Official figures for the first two months of the year - usually combined to account for distortions arising from the varying Lunar New Year holiday - showed a strong start to 2026, before war broke out in the Middle East.
Exports in the period climbed 21.8 per cent year-on-year, the General Administration of Customs said, beating the 7.2 per cent predicted in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Imports soared 19.8 per cent, also far higher than the seven per cent estimated in the Bloomberg survey.
The jump in imports follows official data on Monday that showed consumer prices rising at their fastest pace in three years.
Exports to the United States sank 11 per cent, however, as trade frictions with Washington persisted and President Donald Trump pressed ahead with his tariff campaign.
Shipments to the United States totalled US$67.24 billion in January to February, the figures showed, compared with US$75.56 billion in the same period last year.
But exports to the European Union surged 27.8 per cent, while exports to ASEAN climbed 29.2 per cent.
The world's second-largest economy achieved a record trade surplus last year, offering a crucial lifeline for Beijing as domestic activity slumped.
