Import Data News
- Trade surplus hits record, imports strong
Date: 13-Nov-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
CHINA on Monday posted a record trade surplus for October, but the total was smaller than expected, as climbing raw material costs and strengthening domestic demand gave a boost to imports.
The final months of the year are usually busy ones for Chinese factories shipping Christmas orders, but imports grew faster than exports for the first time since March, possibly reflecting economic weakness in key markets such as the United States.
The trade surplus came in at US$27.05 billion, surpassing the record of US$26.9 billion set in June and September's US$23.9 billion total, but well below forecasts of US$30 billion.
'The strong growth in imports should be attributed to China's encouraging policies and the strong domestic economy,'said Li Yushi, deputy director of a Ministry of Commerce think tank.
Exports grew 22.3 percent in October from a year earlier, with imports up 25.5 percent. Economists had expected export growth of 22.4 percent, with imports up 20.0 percent.
'China has been trying to boost imports this year, and it's time for these policies to start having an impact,'Li said. 'Of course, higher import prices, including oil, are also a reason.'
The smaller-than-expected surplus will be a relief to the Chinese authorities, who are under growing pressure from the United States and the European Union to reduce the surplus by letting the yuan rise faster.
'Export growth, I think, will continue to slow to below 20 percent in 2008 because U.S. growth is slowing down and China has tried to control exports itself,'said Paul Cavey with Macquarie Securities in Hong Kong.
Cavey said he also expected domestic demand to pick up next year. With commodity prices rising strongly, this should boost both import volumes and prices. 'So that should begin to squeeze the trade surplus during the course of 2008,'Cavey said.
Despite the surprisingly small October outcome, the rolling 12-month surplus increased to US$255.9 billion from US$253.7 billion in September and US$245.1 billion in August.
A high-powered EU delegation is due in Beijing later this month to press its case, while the yuan will be on the agenda next month for the latest round of the ministerial-level Sino-American 'strategic economic dialogue.'
The surplus in the first 10 months of 2007 was US$212.4 billion, up 59 percent from US$133.6 billion in the same period last year. The surplus for all of 2006 was US$177.47 billion
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