The Nikkei in Japan was also boosted by the continued weakness of the yen, while a rally on Wall Street capped a two-day losing streak and provided extra impetus to Asian buyers.
Tokyo closed up 0.70 percent, 74.07 points, at 10,652.64 while Sydney gained 0.32 percent, or 14.9 points, to end at 4,723.0 and Seoul climbed 0.75 percent, or 14.99 points, to 2,006.80.
Hong Kong jumped 0.76 percent and Shanghai advanced 0.20 percent in afternoon trade buoyed by the Chinese trade figures.
"The (Shanghai) market may head further north as the upward trend since December remains intact with a continued improvement in economic indicators," China Minzu Securities analyst Chen Wei told Dow Jones Newswires.
China said its trade surplus surged 48.1 percent to $231.1 billion in 2012 from the previous year, helped by a 7.9 percent rise in exports to $2.05 trillion, while imports increased 4.3 percent $1.82 trillion.
However, the trade volume, the total of exports and imports, grew 6.2 percent, below the government target of about 10 percent.
Customs bureau spokesman Zheng Yuesheng said last year's performance came "despite a sharply slowing world economic recovery, weak international market demand and rather big downside pressure on the domestic economy".
The figures are the latest in a string of data in recent months that indicate the world's second biggest economy has finally turned a corner after seven straight months of slowing growth.
Beijing's export-driven economy has been buffeted by the long-running debt crisis in Europe and ongoing uncertainty in the United States, both crucial markets for China's products.
The trade figures are the first of a batch of indicators from Beijing, with inflation results due Friday and closely watched gross domestic product figures expected on Sunday.
"We are seeing assets pick up across the board... after encouraging data with better-than-expected trade numbers from China," said Jason Hughes, the head of premium client management at IG Markets in Singapore.
In Tokyo, exporters were higher owing to the weaker yen, spurred by expectations for fresh monetary easing by the Bank of Japan as well as promises by the new government to boost spending.
New Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was elected last month, on Wednesday reiterated his call for BoJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa to introduce a two percent inflation target ahead of the bank's upcoming policy meeting.
The dollar rose to 88.18 yen in Tokyo trade, from 87.86 yen in New York late Wednesday, while the euro climbed to 115.01 yen from 114.77 yen.
The single currency weakened to $1.3045 from $1.3061.
On Wall Street the Dow rose 0.46 percent, the S&P 500 added 0.27 percent and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.45 percent.
However, investors remain wary as the US corporate earnings season gets under way.
Oil prices rose in Asian trade Thursday, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, gaining 41 cents to $93.51 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for February adding 21 cents to $111.97.
Gold was at $1,659.85 at 0620 GMT compared with $1,663.68 late Wednesday.
In other markets:
-- Taipei rose 0.94 percent, or 73.0 points, to 7,811.64.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 1.0 percent higher at Tw$101.0 while Fubon Financial Holding added 3.33 percent to Tw$37.2.
-- Wellington ended 0.38 percent higher, adding 15.54 points to 4,119.08.
Fletcher Building was up 2.6 percent at NZ$8.67 and Trade Me rose 1.8 percent to close NZ$3.98.