China's trade surplus plunges 64% in February

China's trade surplus plummeted 64% in February 2008, as blizzards disrupted shipments and U.S. demand weakened, China's Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

China's trade surplus narrowed to $8.56 billion in February 2008. The trade surplus totaled $19.5 billion in January 2008.

Economist surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected the February 2008 surplus to total $22.5 billion.

Exports increased 6.5% -- the slowest pace in almost six years -- indicating government efforts to cool the economy are working, to a degree (China's economy grew at a 11.2% rate in Q4 2007). Meanwhile, imports increased 35%, with a portion of that due to rising commodity prices, which lowered the trade surplus.

Also, for the first two months of 2008, China's trade surplus fell 29% to $28 billion.

Economic Analysis: China's February 2008 surplus, like January 2008's, displays the effects of the large snowstorms that disrupted commerce throughout the Asian nation. Also, the week-long Lunar New Year holiday occurred earlier than it typically does -- another idiosyncratic event that hurt exports. Still, China's trade surplus has fallen for four consecutive months, suggesting both the government's effort to cool the economy and the slow-growth/recession conditions in the United States may have spelled 'the beginning of the end' for China's massive trade surplus period.