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April trade surplus down 1.1% to $16.7b

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-12 17:09

China's trade surplus reached $16.68 billion in April, the General Administration of Customs said on Monday.

The figure was down 1.14 percent year-on-year but up 24.5 percent from $13.4 billion in March, and it was almost double the $8.6 billion posted in February.

Exports in April rose 21.8 percent year-on-year to $118.71 billion, while imports rose 26.3 percent to $102.03 billion.

The year-on-year decline reflected weakening external demand caused by the continuing global credit crisis, as well as the government's prudent monetary policy to reduce liquidity, said Zhao Jinping, an economist of the Development Research Center (DRC) of the State Council.

According to Zhao, the continued strengthening of the yuan was a more significant factor in helping narrow the trade gap. The yuan's central parity rate against the US dollar surged 185 basis points to 6.982 on Monday. The currency has risen 4.26 percent against the US dollar so far this year.

The credit crisis in the United States could affect other countries and demand could fall as the economy fell into recession, affecting Chinese exports, said Zhao.

Zhang Liqun, an economist from the DRC, said a sharp slowdown in exports could cause serious problems for the overall economy.

Total trade in the first four months hit $791.1 billion, up 24.4 percent year-on-year. The four-month trade surplus was $58 billion, down $5.32 billion year-on-year.

Exports in the four-month period were $424.6 billion, up 21.5 percent, or 6 percentage points less than a year earlier. Imports were $366.6 billion, up 27.9 percent, or 8.8 percentage points more than a year earlier.