Malaysia's exports in July surged 4.5 per cent from a year earlier, the strongest percentage rise since June 2012, as demand from China, Japan and most of Southeast Asia picked up, government data showed on Friday.

The trade-reliant country's export performance for the month beat economsts' expectations for zero growth and was also the best so far this year, thanks to more shipments of liquefied natural gas as well as electrical and electronic products.

But imports also rose strongly by 6.2 per cent compared to the same month a year ago and narrowed Malaysia's trade surplus to RM2.9 billion, according to data from the Statistics Department.

Economists had expected imports to grow just 0.1 per cent, and a trade balance of RM3.9 billion compared with RM4.3 billion in June.-- Reuters