China’s trade surplus up to $26.7 billion

BEIJING - Agence France-Presse

Containers are being loaded by workers at China’s Qingdao Port. AFP photo

China said yesterday its trade surplus widened to $26.7 billion in August as exports rose and imports registered a surprise decline, amid recent signs of weakness in the world’s second-largest economy.

Exports increased 2.7 percent in August year-on-year to $178 billion, the General Administration of Customs said in a statement on its website. Imports fell 2.6 percent to $151.3 billion.

The increase in exports in August outpaced the one percent gain registered in July, but the decline in imports came as economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a 3.4 percent rise.
China’s economy has been struggling as a broader global slowdown and the European debt crisis has kept exports weak, while consumer spending at home lacks strength.

Gross domestic product in China, a key engine of the global economy, grew by 7.6 percent in the second quarter through June, its worst performance in three years.

The government is targeting full-year growth of 7.5 percent this year, though that is well below the 9.3 percent recorded in 2011 and the 10.4 percent in 2010.