The figures show that Chinese exports, a key driver of expansion, rose by more than 14 percent in December compared to last year, while imports also rose, climbing six percent and indicating stronger domestic demand.
"The export data especially is very good news as it shows that external demand for Chinese products is picking up," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, a senior economist at Credit Agricole-CIB in Hong Kong. "A slowdown in global demand had been one of the biggest concerns for China, and this does help alleviate some of those fears."
In recent weeks China has released a string of encouraging economic data which showed that a pick-up which began in November continued into December.
