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Chinese exports rise faster than expected in February

China's exports expanded more quickly than expected in February, swelling the country's trade surplus, Reuters reported.

In dollar terms, China's exports in February rose 44.5% year over year, its fastest pace in three years, while imports grew 6.3%. This resulted in a wider trade surplus of $33.74 billion in February, the newswire said, citing data from the country's General Administration of Customs showed. Analysts’ median forecast had been for a 13.6% increase in exports, which had gained 11.1% in January.

In yuan terms, exports grew 36.2% year over year to 1.11 trillion yuan, while imports fell 0.2% to 888.16 billion yuan, yielding a trade surplus of 224.88 billion yuan, compared with a trade deficit of 72.99 billion yuan in the year-ago period.

The total value of China's imports and exports in February rose 17.2% year over year to 2 trillion yuan.

In January and February combined, the value of imports and exports rose 16.7% year over year to 4.52 trillion yuan. Exports grew an annual 18% to 2.44 trillion yuan, while imports climbed an annual 15.2% to 2.08 trillion yuan, resulting in a trade surplus of 362.2 billion yuan, up 37.2% from the year-ago period.

In dollar terms, combined January-February data showed exports increased by 24.4% year over year, higher than the 4% growth in the year-ago period. Imports in the first two months of 2018 were up 21.7% year over year, resulting in a trade surplus of $54.32 billion, up 43.6% from the previous year, Reuters reported.

The government releases combined January-February data to try to smooth out seasonal distortions, with the Lunar New Year holiday falling in February in 2018 but January in 2017, Reuters said.

As of March 7, US$1 was equivalent to 6.32 Chinese yuan.