China's exports rose more than forecast in August, while imports unexpectedly declined, data from the country's General Administration for Customs showed.

In U.S. dollar terms, exports rose 9.5% year over year in August, following a 7.2% increase in the prior month. The consensus estimate of economists polled by Trading Economics was for growth to ease slightly to 7.1%.

Imports fell 2.1%, compared with a 1.4% drop in July and the consensus estimate of a 0.1% uptick. This yielded a trade surplus of $58.93 billion in August, higher than the consensus estimate of $50.50 billion.

Iris Pang, ING chief economist for Greater China, said the increase in exports was in part due to a low base effect last year. Despite this, not every export item saw faster growth, which was concentrated in integrated circuits, auto-data processors and textiles, smartphones and household appliances, Pang said.

"This is quite interesting because, with the technology war between China and the U.S., one would have expected China's exports of technology-related items to have experienced slower growth or even contraction. Clearly, China still has some trade partners that are willing to import Chinese technology," Pang added.

In yuan terms, exports rose 11.6%, while imports fell 0.5%.

In the first eight months of 2020, exports rose 0.8% from a year ago, while imports declined 2.3%. China's exports to the U.S. fell 0.5% to 1.87 trillion yuan during the period, while imports grew 0.2% to 549.32 billion yuan. As a result, China's trade surplus with the U.S. narrowed 0.8% to 1.32 trillion yuan.

"Overall, the data continues to highlight exports resilience and while this is in part due to COVID[-19]-related products, the data is encouraging from China's perspective," Mitul Kotecha, senior emerging markets strategist at TD Securities, wrote in a note. "Conversely, China continues to undershoot 'phase one' import targets from the U.S. despite efforts to increase agriculture imports."

As of Sept. 4, US$1 was equivalent to 6.84 yuan.