China's trade surplus in March almost doubled that of the same month last year, experts say it will be impossible for the country's annual trade surplus to drop this year.

"The expected drop in trade surplus doesn't match the reality of the situation," Mei Xinyu, a researcher with the Ministry of Commerce told the China Business News Thursday.

He said that the surplus continues to climb due to the good economic prospects of developed countries and their robust demand for imports.

Figures from Chinese customs show the country's trade surplus in March jumped 98.5 percent year on year.

"It is still not clear why the figure rocketed in March, but I am sure China's trade surplus will not decrease sharply this year, " Mei said.

China posted a trade surplus of US$101.9 billion in 2005, an increase of US$69.9 billion from 2004.

The country is taking measures to balance its imports and exports and reduce its dependency on exports. China will increase imports this year to ease disputes with trading partners, according to Vice Minister of Commerce Wei Jianguo.

The move comes amid escalating tensions between China and the United States due to China's surging trade surplus which reached more than US$100 billion last year.

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