Nation posts US$13b trade surplus
By Jiang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-06-13 08:49
China witnessed a record monthly trade surplus of US$13 billion in May, but
experts predicted the widening of the trade surplus would not last the whole
year.
According to statistics released by customs yesterday, exports
reached US$73.1 billion last month, up 25.1 per cent year-on-year, while imports
reached US$60.1 billion, up 21.7 per cent. The trade surplus has risen sharply
from US$10.5 billion in April.
The US$13 billion trade surplus in May,
the largest so far this year, is expected to increase calls from trading
partners for China to accelerate the revaluation of the yuan.
"China's
widening trade surplus stems from the global industrial transfer, which located
manufacturing industries in Asian countries," said Li Yushi, vice-president of
the Academy of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation, a think-tank under the
Ministry of Commerce.
Li said exports of foreign-invested enterprises in
China have risen much faster than those of domestic firms.
Although
China's trade surplus hit US$101.9 billion in 2005, more than triple that of
2004, a large proportion was contributed by foreign-invested firms.
Li
said if the net surplus of foreign firms were excluded, China's trade surplus
should be about US$20 billion to US$30 billion.
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