Overseas shipments grew 45.7 percent on-year last month to 94.5 billion dollars, the customs bureau said, cementing a turnaround that began in December when a year-long decline ended.

China's export data is being closely watched for clues to the state of the world's third-largest economy and for signs of recovery in crisis-hit markets such as the United States and Europe.

Analysts said the latest figures reflected improving demand for Chinese-made products, even though they compare with February 2009 when shipments plunged 25.7 percent due to the global crisis.

"It's obviously impacted by the low base effect but there were five fewer (business) days in February this year than last year which makes this number pretty impressive," Royal Bank of Canada senior strategist Brian Jackson told reporters.