China's February exports rose 44.5 per cent from a year earlier, beating market expectations, while imports grew 6.3 per cent, according to customs data.
That left the country with a trade surplus of $US33.74 billion ($A43.09 billion) for the month.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected February shipments from the world's largest exporter to have risen 13.6 per cent, up from a 11.1 percent increase in the previous month.
Import growth had been expected to slump to 9.7 per cent, after a sharp rebound to 36.9 per cent in January.
The trade surplus had been expected at $US0.6 billion from January's $20.35 billion.
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Chinese data is often highly volatile early in the year, analysts say, due to massive business disruptions caused by the long Lunar New Year holidays, which fell in mid-February this year but late January last year.
Still, over the Jan-Feb period combined, exports rose 24.4 per cent, and imports rose 21.7 per cent.
China's trade performance rebounded in 2017 and logged a strong start this year thanks to robust demand at home and abroad.
But rapidly escalating trade tensions with the United States are clouding the outlook for exports, while a cooling property market may curb domestic demand for imported raw materials such as iron ore.
