Chinese exports and imports grew faster than expected in February, underlining the momentum behind the world's third-largest economy and reinforcing the case for a rise in the yuan. Economists cautioned against over-interpreting the figures, skewed because of the timing of the long Lunar New Year holiday, but said the basic message was one of gathering strength that would justify a firmer exchange rate to nip inflation in the bud. Exports jumped 45.7 per cent in February from a year earlier, following a 21.0 per cent rise in January, while imports surged 44.7 per cent after record growth of 85.5 per cent in January, the General Administration of Customs said yesterday. Jun Ma, chief China economist at Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong, said the data cemented his view that exports in 2010 could surge 30 per cent, dwarfing Beijing's forecast of an eight per cent rise. "Obviously, it will translate into stronger pressure for exchange rate reform and it will also add inflationary pressure to the domestic economy, because when exports recover, prices tend to go up. It will reinforce the argument for further policy tightening," Ma said. China reported a trade surplus for February of $7.6 billion (Dh28bn), compared with $14.2bn in January.