China's trade surplus jumps to four-month high

China's trade surplus expanded to a three-month high in May as exports rose more than expected.

The trade balance was $82.62bn last month in USD terms, up from $72.35bn in April, according to the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China.

This was well ahead of the $73bn consensus forecast and the biggest trade surplus since February.

Annual export growth picked up to a four-month high of 7.6%, up from 1.5% in April and beating the 6.0% estimate.

Import growth however eased to just 1.8% from 8.4% and well below the 4.2% increase expected by economists.