* China copper imports up 12.6 pct in December* Easing credit...

* China copper imports up 12.6 pct in December
* Easing credit conditions boost metals prices
* Japan's biggest copper smelter suspends operations after fire

LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Copper rose 3 percent on Tuesday as strong import data from top metals consumer China brightened the outlook for metals demand and lifted market sentiment, although concerns about the debt situation in the euro zone kept gains in check. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange closed at $7,745 per tonne versus a close of $7,496 on Monday. China's imports of copper rose 12.6 percent to a record high in December from the previous month, official data showed, as arbitrage and financing opportunities burnished the metal's appeal. "The copper numbers have definitely surprised on the upside," said Gayle Berry, an analyst at Barcap. "This helped to quell some of the worries about slowing metals demand ...It suggests some fears were overdone."
Pan Pacific Copper, Japan's biggest copper smelter, said on Tuesday it suspended operations at its 200,000 tonnes per year Saganoseki smelter on Jan. 7 after a fire damaged an electric power substation on the site. This highlights concerns over supply tightness in the copper market, also helping to keep prices afloat. A rebound in the euro versus the dollar also supported. A weaker dollar makes dollar-priced assets, like industrial metals, more attractive to holders of other currencies. But the euro could come under pressure later this week ahead of Italian and Spanish debt auctions, which will give some signs of the state of the European debt situation. A deteriorating debt crisis and tighter credit conditions in the euro zone have affected the region's economic outlook and put metals, among other assets deemed as risky, under selling pressure.

This week, however, some easing signals from the credit market helped commodities."Yesterday we started to see some interbank market pressure easing," said T-commodity consultant Gianclaudio Torlizzi. "Loans demand from the European Central Bank has decreased significantly, and the German central bank sold bonds with a negative interest rate, highlighting that the ECB liquidity boost is starting to have some effect," he said. Should the market continue to send positive signals, it would benefit the euro and consequently metals prices, he added.