China reported a surprise surge in imports during August, leading to a fall in its trade surplus to $20bn. Imports rose 35.2% from a year ago, faster than the 26.1% markets expected. This means that imports grew slightly faster than exports, which rose by only 34.4%, as expected. The news, which follows a surprising contraction in the US trade deficit in July, will weaken critics of China's trade practices in the US.