TOKYO, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Japan logged a goods trade surplus of 3.41 billion yen (32.19 million U.S. dollars) in February, the government said in a preliminary report on Monday.

According to the Finance Ministry, the trade surplus was owing largely to robust exports although rising energy imports pared gains in the recording period.

Exports increased 1.8 percent from a year earlier to 6,463.0 billion yen (61.01 billion U.S. dollars), marking the 15th straight month of increase, the data showed.

Imports, meanwhile, leapt 16.5 percent to 6,459.6 billion yen (60.97 billion U.S. dollars), the ministry said.

Exports to Asia decreased 3.2 percent to 3.38 trillion yen (31.90 billion U.S. dollars), marking the first drop in 16 months, owing in part to shipments to China declining due to the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays, the government said.

Japan's exports to China were down 9.7 percent to 1.08 trillion yen (31.90 billion yen), while imports jumped 39.2 percent to 1.51 trillion yen (14.25 billion U.S. dollars) in the recording period, the ministry's data showed.

Japan's deficit with China in the recording period stood at 425.0 billion yen (4.01 billion U.S. dollars), the ministry also said.

Overall, Japan's imports from Asia soared 26.5 percent to 3.15 trillion yen (29.73 billion U.S. dollars), with the surplus year-on-year dropping 77.2 percent to 226.8 billion yen (2.14 billion U.S. dollars).

With the United States, Japan's trade surplus increased for the first time in three months by 3.4 percent to 630.9 billion yen (5.95 billion U.S. dollars), the ministry said.

Japan's trade surplus with the single-bloc European Union came in at 46.9 billion yen (442.73 million U.S. dollars), the government's data for the recording period also showed.