China’s exports in January increased 26.7% to $109.7bn, the biggest year-on-year rise in six months.
Imports rose 27.6% to $90.2bn, the biggest increase in almost two years.
"Virtually everything is on the rise – not just fuel, but coal and iron ore," said Jun Ma, chief China economist at Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong.
"All these things are growing much stronger than fuel, plus labour costs are going up too."
There was more concern that factory gate prices had risen 6.6% in the year to February.
Factory gate prices measure the amount that manufacturers are paid for their products and is a key indicator of consumer inflation to come.