China’s foreign trade contracted much faster than expected last month, the latest sign of weakening global trade and lethargic domestic commodity demand as the country’s economy slows. Exports fell 25.4 per cent in February from a year earlier in dollar terms, the worst one-month decline since early 2009 and down from the 11.2 per cent drop in January. Imports fell 13.8 per cent, trimming losses after an 18.8 per cent fall in January. The International Monetary Fund in January lowered its global trade forecast for 2016 and 2017 by more than 0.5 percentage points, citing China as well as distressed economies in Brazil and the Middle East. The February data partly reflect seasonal distortions related to the lunar new year holiday, which occurred earlier this year than last, raising the base of comparison for February 2015. But combined January and February trade data still show a marked deterioration compared with late 2015, analysts say. “I am not expecting optimistic trade data in March, and by then we can compare first-quarter 2016 to the same period in last year, which would give a clearer picture that trade has been weak not because of holiday effect but in fact global demand has not invigorated as expected,” said Iris Pang, China economist at Natixis in Hong Kong.