Chinese exports of PCs and servers delivered a strong start to 2017, rising 8.8% on a year earlier in January. That was the first increase since October 2014, and comes after a 2% fall in global PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2016 according to IDC. The growth was led by shipments of laptops, which climbed 12% as the result of a jump in exports to Japan and the U.S. The latter may represent an acceleration to pre-empt new taxes or tariffs. Global shipment growth from China was led by Apple supplier Quanta, which increased shipments by 38%. Inventec, supplier to Xiaomi, managed a fo...