China today reported its second-biggest monthly trade surplus on record.
The surplus for February ballooned to $23.76 billion, falling just shy of the $23.83 billion total for October 2006 and making a mockery of the consensus market forecast of $7.2 billion.
The surplus in February 2006 was just $2.5 billion. The total in January this year was $15.9 billion.
Chinese trade flows can be distorted at the start of the year by the timing of the Lunar New Year holidays. But combining the two months to remove calendar quirks, the surplus of $39.7 billion was more than triple the total for January and February 2006.
The rolling 12-month surplus increased in February to a record $205.2 billion from $183.9 billion in January.
Exports led the charge, leaping 51.7 per cent in February from a year earlier. By contrast, imports increased just 13.1 per cent, the customs administration said.
Steel exports jumped 178 per cent in January and February combined, furniture 47 per cent, electronics and machinery 38 per cent and clothing 44 per cent.