China's trade surplus plunges 63%

Chinese sales to U.S., Europe weaken, but economists say exports should rebound.

China's trade surplus plunged in February as sales of goods to the United States and Europe weakened and snowstorms disrupted the economy, the government reported Monday, but analysts said it appeared to be a onetime drop and exports should rebound.

The 63% drop in the trade gap from a year ago was due partly to a global slowdown but also to storms that hampered shipping and forced some factories to close, economists said. They said exports also looked unusually small because they were compared with a strong month last February.

"We think the sharp slowdown in China's export growth in February is temporary," Lehman Brothers economist Mingchun Sun said in a report to clients.

Read Complete Story