China's exports in December fell at their fastest pace since 2020, according to official figures released on Friday, owing to a drop in global demand and after health restrictions hit the economy hard.

The world's second-largest economy is still reeling from the effects of years of its zero-Covid policy, which hammered businesses and supply chains and dampened consumption.

China began lifting most of the hardline measures at the beginning of last month, but the country has since seen a massive spike in Covid-19 infections.

Exports fell 9.9 percent year-on-year to $30.6 billion, China customs said, their second consecutive month of decline and the biggest fall since the early days of the pandemic in 2020. They fell 8.7 percent in November.

Imports were also down again in December, sinking 7.5 percent, following a 10.6 percent drop the previous month. Both imports and exports dropped much more than forecast in a survey of economists by Bloomberg.

For all of 2022, the Asian giant's exports rose 7.0 percent, a sharp slowdown from the 29.9 percent jump seen in the previous year, while imports were up 1.1 percent, well down from the 30.1 percent rise in 2021.