honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, July 11, 2006

China trade surplus in June climbs to $14.5B

By Elaine Kurtenbach
Associated Press

SHANGHAI, China — China's global trade surplus rose to a record monthly high of $14.5 billion in June, the Commerce Ministry reported yesterday, raising the likelihood of more tension over Beijing's currency controls.

Figures on new loans and money supply, meanwhile, show signs of a slight slowdown, although China's sizzling economic growth has boosted expectations of a further tightening in credit.

Exports rose 23 percent from a year earlier to $81.3 billion while imports climbed 19 percent to $66.8 billion, the ministry said on its Web site.

The previous record surplus for a single month was $13 billion in May.

China's trade surplus has been soaring in recent months after hitting a historic high of $102 billion last year, more than triple the $32 billion surplus in 2004. The latest report did not include data for individual countries.

China's ballooning trade surplus with the U.S., which hit a record $202 billion in 2005, has fanned antagonism over the persistent imbalance between the two countries. That figure is bigger than China's global trade gap because China has trade deficits with some nations.

June's increase raised the trade surplus for the first half of the year to $61.5 billion, a 55 percent jump over last year's first-half surplus of $39.7 billion.

The surge in exports also has worried China's economic planners, who say the country needs to rely more on domestic demand than on exports and investment to fuel growth if its industrial boom is to be sustained.

The economy grew at an annual rate of 10.3 percent in the first quarter of the year. First-half figures have yet to be released but state media reports, citing authoritative government officials, have said it likely would remain at approximately 10 percent.