China: Export jump in February points to recovery

China's exports jumped 22 per cent year-on-year in February, indicating a recovery of global trade and economic growth, dpa quoted the government as saying Friday. Monthly exports rose to 139.37 billion dollars, up 21.8 per cent from February 2012, while imports fell by 15.2 per cent to 124.12 billion dollars, according to Chinese customs data. Exports were driven by recovering demand from the United States and emerging markets, the General Administration of Customs said. Import data were affected by the timing of a week-long national holiday for Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year, which fell in January in 2012 but in February this year. Seasonally adjusted imports for February rose 6.5 per cent year-on-year, the customs administration said. The surge in exports in February reflected the 'steady recovery of the Chinese, US and emerging economies,' the official Xinhua news agency quoted government economist Wang Jun as saying. China's annual economic growth slipped from 9.3 per cent in 2011 to 7.8 per cent last year, the slowest expansion since 1999. The government is targeting growth of 7.5 per cent this year as it aims to rebalance the world's second-largest economy away from its long reliance on exports and investment in infrastructure.