BEIJING — China’s exports grew slightly more than expected in December, while imports rose less than expected, according to customs data released Friday.

Over the 20.9% increase predicted by a Reuters poll, exports rose by 20% year-over-year in U.S. dollars terms.

The 19.5% increase in imports was not expected to exceed 26.3%.

Pinpoint Asset Management’s chief economist Zhiwei Zhiwei said that China will continue to export strong goods in the first quarter of 2011 due to resilient demand worldwide and worsening pandemics in developing countries.

China’s strong exports are the main driver of the economy right now. “Infrastructure investment is expected to become the second major driver in the coming months,” he stated.

Zhang stated that Covid epidemics in greater numbers of cities pose a bigger threat to China’s economy for the first quarter.

China will release data on GDP and retail sales for the year 2021 Monday.

This story is breaking. Keep checking back for more updates.