Export slowdown in China during Spring Festival February unexpected trade deficit

China's General administration of customs data showed that China's February trade deficit was unexpectedly 7.3 billion U.S. dollars, as exports slowed during the spring Festival. China's first trade surplus since last March could ease the pressure on the renminbi to appreciate. Earlier, U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner called for faster appreciation of the renminbi.　　Chen Deming, China's commerce minister, said March 7 that the renminbi was undervalued as "unreasonable". To eliminate the impact of the Spring festival holiday on data, economists put together the data for the first two months of the year. According to the algorithm, China's trade deficit in the first two months was about $890 million trillion, with a surplus of around $22 billion a year earlier.　　Higher commodity prices pushed up imports in the first two months of the year. Economics, an economist at Action in Singapore, said before trade data that a lower trade surplus would support the Chinese government's argument that China is gradually adjusting its economic structure.　　Cohen worked at the Fed. The data released today also showed that exports rose 2.4% in February from a year earlier, and imports climbed 19.4%.