Others News
- Trade surplus jumps 74% to US$177.5b
Date: 12-Jan-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
CHINA'S trade surplus last year jumped 74 percent to a record US$177.47 billion on the back of a 27.2 percent surge in exports, Xinhua said Wednesday.
Economists said the figures would increase political pressure on the Central Government to let the yuan rise faster to head off the risk of protectionism by governments fearful that Chinese companies are eroding wide swathes of their manufacturing sectors.
Xinhua said the trade surplus for December was US$21 billion, just shy of November's US$22.9 billion and October's record US$23.8 billion.
Xinhua said full-year exports were US$969.08 billion, up 27.2 percent, while imports rose 20 percent to US$791.61 billion.
The trade figures for 2006 are higher than the Ministry of Commerce projection, which forecast the aggregate trade surplus would be US$168 billion.
Seven countries or regions had bilateral trade volume with China of more than US$100 billion in 2006, with China's top three trading partners, the European Union, the United States and Japan more than US$200 billion.
Taiwan for the first time saw its trade with the mainland surpass US$100 billion to US$107.84 billion, with a trade surplus in favor of the mainland of US$66.38 billion.
Electronic and machinery products remained the top export items in 2006, rising by 28.8 percent to US$549.44 billion.
Customs experts estimate that China's trade volume will surpass US$2 trillion in 2007, Xinhua said.
Kent Yau with investment bank Core Pacific-Yamaichi in Hong Kong said the trade figures reflected China's progress up the value chain as companies are now able to produce more of the parts they used to have to import.
The government has let the yuan rise just 3.9 percent since it was revalued by 2.1 percent against the dollar in July 2005 and untetherred from a dollar peg to float within managed bands.
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