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China's exports and imports surged on a yearly basis in January, government data showed on Wednesday, a day after Germany conceded its top exporter title to the Asian nation.
Exports surged 21% year-on-year to $109.48 billion in January, the General Administration of Customs said. This came below expectations for a 28% increase following the 17.7% gain in the previous month.
Imports jumped 85.5% to $95.31 billion, faster than the 55.9% increase a month ago. Economists were looking for an 85.2% rise.
On a monthly basis, however, exports slumped 16.3% while imports were down 15.1%.
The strong nature of the year-on-year numbers is due partly to comparison with low activity in January 2009, when Chinese firms were inactive for the Lunar New Year holiday. This year, the holiday falls in February.
China's trade surplus stood at $14.17 billion in January, down sharply from the $18.43 billion surplus recorded in December.
On Tuesday, the German statistical office confirmed that China overtook Germany as the world's largest exporter in 2009. Official data showed that German trade suffered its sharpest slump since 1950 last year. German exports totaled $1.12 trillion in 2009, less than China's $1.20 trillion export revenue.
The spike in exports is likely to renew calls for a stronger yuan from China's trading partners. Beijing has pursued a controversial policy of preventing the appreciation of its currency yuan to keep its export competitiveness high. This move has attracted fierce criticism, with analysts arguing that the country's persistent exchange rate management was hurting growth around the world.
The government has thus far rebuffed international pressure, with the latest broadside being delivered from a state-owned newspaper. The China Securites Journal said in a front-page editorial on Wednesday that Beijing will judge for itself when to resume yuan appreciation and will try to coordinate a rise in the yuan with other tightening policies, such as higher interest rates.
In a strongly worded article, the paper said the U.S. had no right to interfere in China's exchange rate policy and that any future revaluation of the currency would depend on Beijing's judgement of domestic and international economic conditions and not on external pressure. "Given the current situation, the conditions are not right for big yuan appreciation in the first half (of 2010) at least," it said.
China's economy recorded double-digit growth in the fourth quarter of 2009 and is poised to overtake Japan to become Asia's biggest economy. Economic data for the three months through December showed an expansion of 10.7%, while full year growth reached 8.7%.
China's recovery was sparked by a massive government stimulus package but there are now concerns that the economy is expanding too quickly. The central bank is now expected to raise interest rates ahead of official guidance, while banks have already been ordered to keep more money in reserve. In January, the People's Bank of China ordered a boost in the yuan reserve requirement ratio for banks by 50 basis points.
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