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China witnessed its third monthly trade surplus in a rowWednesdayas Julys exports surged by nearly 34 per cent, accordingto customsstatistics.But the trade sheet did not gootnitheblack, stillrecording a deficit of US$4.87 billion.The customssaid the totalexports from January to July reached US$309.12billion, rising 35.5per cent, while the imports increased by 41.3per cent to US$313.99billion.The customs did not provide thespecific figure for Julyalone.But exports in Jul
y amounted toUS$51.04 billion incomparison, up 33.92 per cent year-on-year. Andthe imports surgedby 34.31 to US$49.09 billion.The growth ratesmarked a slowdown fromthe year to June, when exports rose by 46.4per cent and imports by51 per cent.The monthly trade sheetrecorded a small surplus ofUS$1.95 billion, the third surplus in arow this year.The surpluscompared with US$1.8 billion in June andUS$2.1 billion inMay.Analysts had predicted Chinas trade deficitmay ease in thecoming months as government efforts to cool aninvestment boom curbdemand for imported machinery andcommodities.Li Yushi, an expertfrom the Academy of InternationalTrade and Economic Co-operation,contributed the continued exportsrise to rising spending in therecovering economies of the UnitedStates, Japan and Europe.And thegovernments efficient payment ofall outstanding tax rebates owedto exporters also contributed tohigh growth, he added.But thegrowth rate for imports is still veryhigh, indicating Chinas bigdemand and government control inselected industries did not impacton all industries, he said.Onlyindustries including steel, realestate, cement and aluminium aresuffering and most of theindustries operate well and need importsto feed their growth, hesaid.The dynamic export sector and growingdomestic consumption cancushion the cool-down in selectedindustries and still buoy uptrading partners exports to China, Liadded.A report by theMinistry of Commerce said exports wereexpected to rise an annual 15per cent in 2004 to US$505 billion,while imports were likely tosurge 20 per cent to US$495billion.That would produce a tradesurplus of US$10 billion forthis year compared to a US$25.5 billionsurplus in 2003.Butfrequent critics of Chinas low-cost productsand traderestrictions against China were both hurting the countryandproving to be a big concern for business.As a result,thegovernment has made great efforts to push the adjustment ofexportcomposition by adding high-tech products, which thecustomsstatistics showed has paid off.Exports of high-techproductsincreased by 58.3 per cent to US$83.8 billion in the firstsevenmonths, accounting for 27.1 per cent of Chinastotalexports.High-tech imports surged 40.7 per cent toUS$86.46billion.(China Daily)
（信息来源：MOFTEC英文版子站）
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