Sina US Stock News On the evening of the 19th, Beijing time, economic data released by the Japanese government on Monday showed that although Japan had a trade deficit for the first time in eight months due to rising oil prices and seasonal factors, Japan's foreign trade grew strongly at the beginning of this year. Exports to the US increased 12% year on year, and exports to China increased 30%.

According to data released by Japan Customs on Monday, Japan's imports in January increased 8% year-on-year to 703 million yen (about 66 billion US dollars), and exports jumped 12% to 6.09 trillion yen (57.1 billion US dollars). Japan's trade deficit in January was 94.34 billion yen (8.8 billion US dollars).

Official data also showed that Japan's exports to China increased 30% year-on-year in January.

International crude oil prices have risen in the past year. The price of oil in January 2017 was about 55 US dollars/barrel, while in January this year it was over 70 US dollars/barrel. As a country with scarce resources, Japan imports almost all of its non-renewable energy. In January of this year, Japan's imports of crude oil, gasoline, coal, etc. increased nearly 10% year-on-year, reaching nearly 1.6 trillion yen (15 billion US dollars).

Although Japan's exports to the US climbed to 1.07 trillion yen ($1 billion), its trade surplus with the US fell by 12%. Japan's imports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), soybeans, and mechanical products increased dramatically, making its imports from the US rise 9% year over year in January to 717 billion yen (6.7 billion US dollars).

Trade experts said that although more than half of Japan's import and export contracts are settled in US dollars, the recent appreciation of the yen will still adversely affect Japan's exports in the coming months. (Zhang Jun)