China's total trade fell in December but far less than expected, with exports outperforming many of its regional peers after the country let the yuan depreciate sharply, highlighting fears of a currency war among Asia's trade-reliant economies.<br />"The trade data support our view that, despite turmoil in Chinese financial markets, there has not been a major deterioration in its economy in recent months," Daniel Martin, senior Asia economist at Capital Economics, said in a note.<br />Exports from the world's largest trading nation fell 1.4 percent from a year earlier, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Wednesday, much less than a Reuters poll forecast for an 8 percent drop and moderating from November's 6.8 percent decline.<br />They also sharply outperformed exports from neighboring countries such as Taiwan and South Korea, analysts noted, and came in the face of entrenched weakness in overseas demand.
