Beware Chinese export data - it doesn't reflect the reality

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Trade analysts have warned that recent Chinese manufacturing and export data may be masking continued weaknesses in the world’s largest manufacturing nation, as some degree of optimism about economic fundamentals appears to be returning to the major deep sea container trades.

Last week, China’s Customs Administration reported that exports in December rose 14.1% year-on-year, the largest annual jump since March 2011, prompting Macquarie Equities Research to issue a warning to container shipping investors that this wouldn’t necessarily be reflected in larger ...