Thursday August 10 2006

 

China's trade surplus rose to a record $14.61bn in July, exceeding the

previous peak of $14.5bn in June, the official Shanghai Securities News

said, reports Reuters.

 

Exports hit $80.34bn in July, up 22.6% from a year earlier, while imports

rose 19.7% to $65.72bn, the newspaper quoted a source familiar with the

figures as saying.

 

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a surplus of $14.5bn based on

export growth of 23.6% and import growth of 20.8%.

 

If confirmed, the figure would take China's 12-month rolling trade surplus

to $126.8bn from $122.6bn in June.

 

The surplus trebled in calendar year 2005 to $102bn and the State

Information Centre, a key government think-tank, said it was likely to

swell further to $146bn this year.

 

"We expect China's foreign trade will tend to be more balanced in the

second half of 2006," the think-tank said in a research report published in

the newspaper.

 

It forecast China's exports to grow 24% in all of 2006, with imports rising

21%.