China trade balance for January: CNY 135.8bn (expected CNY 330.00bn)

China trade balance for January: CNY 135.8bn ... smaller surplus than expected

• expected CNY 330.00bn, prior was CNY 361.98bn

Exports +6.0% y/y ... beat

• expected 2.6%, prior was 7.4%

Imports +30.2% y/y ... HUGE BEAT

• expected 10.6%, prior was 4.5%

As is usual at this time of the year, the January data could well be skewed by the Lunar New year break ... February data will be eagerly awaited and the data smoothed over the 2 months

More:

• China's Jan trade surplus with the US reported at 144.8bn yuan

... in 'USD terms' will be along soon - I'll post on this separately