BEIJING (AFX) - China's trade surplus hit a monthly record of 18.8 bln usd in August, state media said today, just days before a key international meeting where the
country's currency and trade practices could be in focus.
Based on previously released government statistics, the figure, which was made public by the Xinhua news agency, was up nearly 80 pct from a trade surplus last August of about 10.6 bln usd.
"The numbers can be volatile month to month, but it was a strong number. There's no escaping that," said David Cohen, the Singapore-based director of Asian economic forecasting at Action Economic.
China's previous record was in July when a 14.6 bln usd surplus was recorded, up from 14.5 bln usd in June, according to statistics published earlier.
Exports in the month soared 32.8 pct to 90.8 bln usd from a year ago, with imports up 24.6 pct at 72 bln usd, Xinhua said, citing customs statistics.
In the first eight months of the year, the accumulated surplus hit 94.7 bln usd, Xinhua said.
That puts the nation well on the road to exceeding its 2005 trade surplus of 101.9 bln usd, itself a record and triple the 2004 figure.
"This is consistent with the trend of the last few months that the surplus is rising, primarily due to strong exports," Morgan Stanley's Hong Kong-based China economist Andy Xie told AFP.
"The number may be a little bit of a one-off because 32.8 pct growth (in August exports) is not consistent with the previous month which was about 22.6 pct, so next month I expect the growth will slow down."
The spike in August exports, which was also seen in Taiwan and South Korea, could further mean that the US economy is not slowing to the degree that many economists believed, Xie said.
"In the end, Chinese exports come from US consumer spending. That's the bottom line and US consumers are spending," Xie said.
China's soaring trade surplus has been an engine of growth at home but a source of complaints abroad as US and European officials have argued it has been fueled by an undervalued Chinese currency.
China's economy skyrocketed 11.3 pct in the second quarter of the year, boosted mainly by exports and state-financed investment.
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