Top Biz News

China July trade surplus hits US$14.6b

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-08-09 15:59

China's trade surplus rose to a record US$14.61 billion in July, exceeding the previous peak of US$14.5 billion in June, the official Shanghai Securities News said on Wednesday.

Exports hit US$80.34 billion in July, up 22.6 percent from a year earlier, while imports rose 19.7 percent to US$65.72 billion, the newspaper quoted a source familiar with the figures as saying.

It said the customs office would announce the data on Wednesday or Thursday.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a surplus of US$14.5 billion based on export growth of 23.6 percent and import growth of 20.8 percent.

If confirmed, the figure would take China's 12-month rolling trade surplus to US$126.8 billion from US$122.6 billion in June.

The surplus trebled in calendar year 2005 to US$102 billion and the State Information Centre, a key government think-tank, said it is likely to swell further to US$146 billion 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 percent in all of 2006, with imports rising 21 percent.

(US$1=7.97 yuan)