Beijing, Feb 14 (PTI) China, which has been officially declared as the second largest economy over taking Japan today, had a good news on the trade front as its foreign trade surged 44 per cent in January, while its trade surplus continued to shrink with imports registering 51 per cent.
Exports rose by 37.7 per cent year on year to USD 150.73 billion, while imports increased by 51 per cent to USD 144.28 billion, the General Administration of Customs said.
Foreign trade totalled USD 295.01 billion last month and the trade surplus shrank 53.5 per cent year on year to USD 6.45 billion in January, much less than the market expected.
The release of the trade figures coincided with the news from Tokyo that China has officially overtaken Japan as the world''s second-biggest economy.
According to figures released in Tokyo, Japan''s economy was worth USD 5.474 trillion at the end of 2010, while China''s economy was closer to USD 5.8 trillion in the same period.
China''s January trade figures were stronger than expected, Liu Ligang, an economist for the Greater China area with the ANZ Bank told state run Xinhua newsagency.
According to Liu''s calculations, January exports, in seasonally adjusted terms, increased by 0.1 per cent from December, while imports rose by 10.8 per cent.
China''s trade with India went up by 44.2 per cent to USD 6.66 billion and with Brazil up 74.8 per cent to USD 5.99 billion yuan.
The European Union remained China''s largest trade partner in 2010, with EU-China trade up 30.5 per cent year-on-year to USD 45.97 billion.
Trade with the United States rose 39.2 per cent year-on-year to USD 36.87 billion, while China-Japan trade jumped 42 per cent to USD 27.84 billion.
Trade between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) surged 34.5 per cent to USD 28.89 billion. The deficit with ASEAN nations has multiplied and touched USD 2.17 billion.
Although the trade surplus contracted sharply, the figure at the beginning of the year was much smaller than other periods of the year because of seasonal factors, UBS Securities Economist Wang Tao said.
"January''s falling trade surplus is only temporary, and does not mean China''s foreign trade is moving towards a more balanced level," she said.
Qu Hongbin, co-head of Asian Economic Research of HSBC, said import prices surged 10.1 per cent year-on-year in December, a trend that was expected to continue because of rising global commodities prices, which added further pressure to broader domestic price growth, especially producer prices.
"At home, the recent development of drought in northern China will likely add fuel to the continued growth of food prices and inflationary expectations," he said.

MSN