* China exports, imports surge, surpass market expectations * China copper imports rise 3 pct in Jan vs Dec * Coming Up: U.S. international trade; 1330 GMT By Susan Thomas and Manolo Serapio Jr LONDON/SINGAPORE, Feb 8 (Reuters) - - Copper rose on Friday, for the first time in four days, on a soft dollar and after strong trade data from China signalled improved global growth prospects and recovery in demand from the world's top metals consumer. China's exports jumped 25 percent in January from a year earlier, topping market forecasts for an increase of 17 percent, while imports surged 28.8 percent, also ahead of analysts' estimate of 23.3 percent. The sharp rise was partly due to the Lunar New Year effect, with the holiday falling in January last year, but the "numbers are still very strong and show the economic recovery is on track", said Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist at Nomura in Hong Kong. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.4 percent to $8,229 a tonne by 0943 GMT, after hitting a session high of $8,253. The data boosted other risk assets including equities and oil. China, which accounts for around 40 percent of refined copper demand, imported 350,958 tonnes of copper in January, up almost 3 percent from December as importers brought forward shipments to avoid delays during next week's week-long holiday. "Obviously the China data has helped," Citi analyst David Wilson said. "The dollar today is soft, and the correlation of prices with exchange rates is very strong at the moment, and I think that's the bigger issue." The dollar was down against a basket of currencies on Friday, and shed 1 percent versus the yen. The euro was also near a two-week low versus the dollar after the European Central Bank rekindled expectations that it could against cut rates. A softer dollar makes metals less expensive for investors using alternative currencies. Tin was at $24,800 from $24,675 at Thursday's close, while zinc was at $2,178 from $2,163. Lead was at $2,417 from $2,408, aluminium was at $2,108 from $2,098 and nickel was at $18,270 from $18,180. Metal Prices at 1013 GMT Comex copper in cents/lb, LME prices in $/T and SHFE prices in yuan/T Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2012 Ytd Pct move COMEX Cu 373.50 0.80 +0.21 365.25 2.26 LME Alum 2108.50 -2.50 -0.12 2073.00 1.71 LME Cu 8223.75 23.75 +0.29 7931.00 3.69 LME Lead 2415.75 7.75 +0.32 2330.00 3.68 LME Nickel 18261.00 81.00 +0.45 17060.00 7.04 LME Tin 24730.00 55.00 +0.22 23400.00 5.68 LME Zinc 2178.00 15.00 +0.69 2080.00 4.71 SHFE Alu 15140.00 50.00 +0.33 15435.00 -1.91 SHFE Cu* 59480.00 120.00 +0.20 57690.00 3.10 SHFE Zin 15780.00 20.00 +0.13 15625.00 0.99 ** Benchmark month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07

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