China's exports jump 7.9 per cent in January, imports gain 16.7 per cent

China's politically sensitive trade surplus with US contracted by 1% from a year earlier to $21.4 bn

China's exports surged in January, rebounding from the previous month's contraction, and imports also rose in a positive sign for the world's second-largest economy.

Exports climbed 7.9 per cent from a year earlier to $18.3 billion, recovering from December's 6.1 per cent decline, customs data showed on Friday. Imports gained 16.7 per cent to $13.1 billion, accelerating from the previous month's 3.1 per cent expansion.

China's politically sensitive trade surplus with the United States contracted by just over 1 per cent from a year earlier to $21.4 billion.

US President Donald Trump has promised to take a tougher line toward Beijing on trade, raising fears of a slump in commerce between the two countries, which are among each other's biggest trading partners.

"Headline trade data was strong in January," said Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics in a report. "Import momentum remained solid, following the impressive sequential run up last year, indicating continued steady domestic demand momentum and higher commodity prices."

China's trade figures can be distorted by the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls at different times in January and February each year.

Factories rush to fill orders before closing for up to two weeks and then restock with a flood of imported raw materials. This year's holiday began January 27, so some of that shutdown was in January, while last year's break didn't begin until February 7.

China's global trade surplus shrank by 19 per cent from a year ago to $51.3 billion. Its surplus with the 28-nation European Union, its biggest trading partner, declined 2 per cent to $14.1 billion.