The burgeoning strength of the Chinese economy has been underlined by another month of encouraging trade data for September.

China's customs administration reported that imports rose by 18.7 per cent during the month, which exceeded estimates and marked the fastest growth since March. Exports, meanwhile, fell slightly below forecasts, but were nevertheless up by 8.1 per cent.

This resulted in a trade surplus of $28.5 billion (€21.24 billion), with demand for Chinese products continuing to rise and the International Monetary Fund recently raising its growth forecast for China.

China's recent success can be attributed in part to the recent global recovery supporting higher export demand, with shipments to Europe, Japan and the US all picking up during September.

Tao Dong, vice-chairman for Greater China at Credit Suisse Private Banking, said: "This seems to be a reflection of a modest picking up in China's growth, led by the commodities and machinery sectors, on top of a robust IT industry. The economy is improving."