China’s trade surplus increased to a record $49.8 billion in August, according to figures released by the country’s General Administration of Customs. Imports saw a 2.4% decline from August 2013 to $158.6 billion, while exports increased by 9.4% to $208.5 billion.

The surplus was up 77.8% from August 2013 to beat the previous all-time high of $47.3 billion that was set in July.

The surprise fall in imports has worried economic analysts who fear that a series of mini-stimulus measures has failed to ‘kick-start’ growth. Nomura economist Hua Changchun said: “We expect the government to continue to roll out small targeted easing measures to offset the on-going property market correction, which has seen house prices continue to fall. The continuing import decline is another worrying sign of weak domestic demand.”

However, ANZ Bank economists Liu Li-Gang and Zhou Hao said: “Despite the slowdown from July, the August export figure can still be considered a bright spot. China’s export growth slowed but still remained upbeat, reflecting continuously improving external demand. China’s exports will likely remain elevated for the remainder of this year.”