Shanghai's exports fell 4.2 percent from a year earlier in February, the first drop in 15 months, after trade activities were distracted by seasonal changes, higher production costs, weaker overseas demand and a stronger yuan.
But imports still expanded 19.7 percent to US$13.5 billion, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said Tuesday. By contrast, exports jumped 24.4 percent and imports surged 46 percent in January.
"The surprising outcome is created by many factors combined," said Li Maoyu, an analyst at Changjiang Securities Co. "The biggest factor should be the mismatch of the week-long Spring Festival holiday."
The decline in February's overall trade growth was partly expected as many shipments have been front-loaded into January due to the holiday.
"But the scale of such a fall is still unexpected," Li said. "It could be a result of more expensive labor costs and a stronger yuan which imposed a burden on exporters."
According to the bureau, Shanghai's exports to the European Union, grappling with a debt crisis among some of its members, shed 25.4 percent annually to US$2.1 billion last month, while shipments to the United States were flat.
Shanghai's exports to Japan rose 7.9 percent to US$1.3 billion. It is uncertain how major the influence of Japan's devastating earthquake will be on Shanghai's overall trade in the future, analysts said.
Industrial production and investment in Shanghai also grew slower at the beginning of this year in response to a government call for a less rapid growth and to focus on higher quality of development.
Industrial output gained 12.4 percent to 206.6 billion yuan (US$31.4 billion) in February, slowing further from 14 percent in January.
Fixed-asset investment in Shanghai fell an annual 4.3 percent in the first two months to 57 billion yuan as fewer funds went into infrastructure construction following the expiry of stimulus policies.
But investments in property development grew 24.7 percent to 28.8 billion yuan, accounting for more than half of the overall investment.
