Goods traded in and out of China in January are far fewer than expected, with imports down nearly 20 percent and exports slower by 3.3 percent, indicators of a growing weakness in China's economy.

The country's trade surplus in January is higher than expected at US$60 billion but this is mainly the result of significantly low imports such as oil, commodities and coal. The numbers are far below analysts' forecast of a 6.3 percent growth in exports and 3 percent for imports but exceeded the target of US$48.9 billion in trade surplus.

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The imports' retreat is the fastest since the middle of 2009, when local manufacturers scaled back production amid a global financial crisis.

Exports have performed so poorly that the data is the first negative reading since March last year. The worse-than-expected trade statistics has led many economists to think just how an economic downturn in China carries the risk of derailing growth through domestic consumption.

Analysts expect Beijing to cut GDP growth to about 7 percent this year after it achieved 7.4 percent in 2014, the slowest growth in 24 years.

Distortions caused by the changing week-long Lunar New Year holiday have led economists to view the change with caution while the range of guesses was extremely wide.

The import data is considered worrisome even after covering cyclical factors. Last year, the New Year revelry shut down financial markets and factories for a week, but this year, they had a full month of business-as-usual as the holiday comes in late February and January.

Andrew Polk, the economist at the Conference Board in Beijing, noted that exports tended to be on the slow side, but he was more concerned by the implications of the surprising negative import numbers.

Analysts believe steps taken to improve yuan liquidity are not enough to do much more than ease growing capital outflows. Supporters of more aggressive measures will zero in on the slump in January trade to make their case.

Tagsyuan, China Trade