China's foreign trade in farm produce went into deficit in the first two months of the year, compared with a surplus during the same period last year, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday.

Both exports and imports increased over the January-February period, but the growth of the latter was significantly higher, a ministry official who refused to give his name said.

Chen Hongzhou, an analyst with Galaxy Securities, said the figures suggested that the government's measures to rein in exports to protect supplies to the domestic market were taking effect.