China’s Dec Trade data (USD): Surplus misses estimates despite a big beat on Exports and Imports

The China customs published Trade Balance for December in USD terms, reporting a smaller-than-expected increase in the trade surplus despite both exports and imports beat estimates by a big margin.

In USD terms,

Trade Balance (USD) came in at +46.79B versus +48B expected and +37.93B previous.

Exports (YoY): +7.6% vs.+3.2% exp. and -1.3% last.

Imports (YoY): +16.3% vs.+9.6% exp. and +0.5% last.

China's 2019 total trade declined slightly in USD terms, but exports grew 0.5%.