China recorded a trade deficit of 7.3 billion U.S. dollars in February as the Lunar New Year holiday season dented exports, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said Thursday.

This is China's second monthly trade deficit in a year, after the country announced a deficit of 7.24 billion U.S.dollars in March 2010, which was, at that time, the first time in six years.

In the first two months this year, China posted a trade deficit of 890 million U.S. dollars, as January's trade surplus shrank year on year by more than half to 6.45 billion U.S.dollars, said the GAC.

The GAC attributed the deficit to the week-long Spring Festival break in early February, saying the holiday had hindered export growth.

China's foreign trade rose by 10.6 percent year on year to 200.78 billion U.S. dollars last month, said the customs.

Exports grew by 2.4 percent year on year to 96.74 billion U.S. dollars in February while imports increased by 19.4 percent to 104.04 billion U.S. dollars.

For the first two months of the year, China's foreign trade totaled 495.83 billion U.S.dollars, representing a 28.3 percent growth from the same period last year.

The European Union remained China's largest trade partner in the period, with EU-China trade up 16.3 percent year on year to 76.2 billion U.S. dollars.

Meanwhile, trade with the United States rose 22.6 percent year on year to 60.5 billion U.S. dollars while China-Japan trade jumped 28.8 percent year on year to 48.85 billion U.S. dollars.

Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said earlier this week during the ongoing annual parliamentary session, that it was possible that China would register trade deficits in some months, as the growth of imports would likely soon outpace that of exports.

There are still "uncertainties" in the global market that could hinder export recovery, together with increasing domestic factors that had driven up production costs, he said.

But economists said the seasonal factor had largely affected the February trade figure, as Chinese exporters rushed to finish all the orders before the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.

The slump in February exports is merely "temporary and seasonal," said Liu Ligang, Head of Greater China Economics with the ANZ Bank, and he expected a strong rebound in exports in March.