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China trade surplus falls 2.6% in first 3 quarters

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-13 21:42

BEIJING - China's trade surplus in the first three quarters shrank 2.6 percent, or US$4.92 billion, to US$180.9 billion from a year earlier, despite a jump in September.

The September surplus rose 22.59 percent year-on-year to US$29.3 billion, the third month of continuous gains.

In August, the surplus was US$28.69 billion. In July, it was US$25.28 billion.

"The surplus jumped mainly because imports posted a much bigger slowdown than exports as commodities prices and shipping rates slumped," said Li Jian, a Ministry of Commerce analyst.

September exports jumped 21.5 percent to US$136.4 billion, largely in line with the 21.1 percent growth in August, though lower than 26.9 percent in July, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Imports, however, decelerated, only rising 21.3 percent to US$107.1 billion, compared with 23.1 percent in August and 33.7 percent in July.

Li also attributed the higher monthly surplus to the slower advance in the Chinese currency against the greenback. The yuan had remained almost steady against the US dollar since July.

Exports increased 22.3 percent to US$1.07 trillion during the January-September period. Imports rose 29 percent to US$893.1 billion.

The growth of exports was an acceleration of 0.4 percentage points over the first half of the year, but was 4.8 percentage points lower than the same period last year.

"The export figures do not seem to be very discouraging at the moment," said Zhang Yansheng, director of the International Economic Research Institute under the National Development and Reform Commission. "But the country's exporters are in a very difficult situation right now."

He foresaw a gloomy picture for exporters who were at the same time hit by slackening global demand and rising costs in the country.

Both exports and imports were expected to further decelerate in the fourth quarter, he said. "The surplus may fall as well."

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