China's exports to US fall 2.4 pct in Jan, while imports plunge 41.2 pct

China's trade surplus with the United States narrowed to $27.3 billion in January, from $29.87 billion in December, customs data showed on Thursday. China's exports to the United States fell 2.4 percent in January from a year earlier, while imports from the United States plunged 41.2 percent.

China's large trade surplus with the United States has long been a sore point with Washington, and is at the centre of a bitter dispute between the world's two biggest economies. The two countries have hit each other with tit-for-tariffs on goods worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

A new round of Sino-U.S. trade talks began in Beijing on Monday as the two sides' renewed efforts to hammer out a deal ahead of a March 1 deadline when U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports are scheduled to increase to 25 percent from 10 percent.