According to the report from Customs General Administration of China, China's trade surplus declined to $39.16 billion in January. Analysts expecting trade surplus to have narrowed in January to $33.5 billion from $57.06 billion in December.

China’s January dollar-denominated exports rose 9.1% from a year earlier, while imports dropped 1.5%. Analysts had expected both exports and imports to fall for a second straight month, but cautioned the trend could be distorted by the timing of the long Lunar New Year holidays, which fell in early February this year.

Exports had been forecast to decline 3.2%, after a 4.4% drop in December. Imports were expected to have dropped 10%, after declining 7.6% in the preceding month.