In an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg News, the General Administration of Customs said every dollar is accounted for by declaration documents in their export and import data.
At a press conference on Jan. 16, MOC spokesman Shen Danyang noted exports in January 2012 dropped 0.6 percent but increased 18.3 percent in February. Similarly, April shipments rose 4.8 percent while May exports were up 15.3 percent.
He noted that exporters had indeed sped up deliveries in December to maximize benefits from the inspection fees exemption.
Some experts agree with this, and believe external factors could have also played a role.
In an interview with Global Times, Hong Kong-based Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Lu Ting noted the volatility of monthly YoY changes in trade data is well known. He said the strikes in California ports in November 2012 could have disrupted China's US shipments that month. The resolution of the strike in December could have then bumped up China's exports to the US.