China's global trade surplus rose to a new record monthly high of US$14.5 billion (euro11.4 billion) in June, the Commerce Ministry reported Monday.

Exports rose 23 percent from a year earlier to US$81.3 billion (euro63.6 billion) while imports climbed 19 percent to US$66.8 billion (euro52.3 billion), the ministry said in a report on its Web site.

The previous record surplus for a month was US$13 billion (euro10 billion) in May.
China's trade surplus has been soaring in recent months after hitting a historic high of US$102 billion last year, more than triple the US$32 billion surplus in 2004.

June's increase raised the trade surplus for the first half of the year to US$61.5 billion (euro48 billion), a 55 percent jump over last year's first-half surplus of US$39.7 billion (euro31 billion).

China's exports rose 25 percent year-on-year in the first six months of the year, to US$428.6 billion (euro335.4 billion), while imports rose 21 percent to US$367.2 billion (euro287.4 billion)

The report did not include data for individual countries.

China's ballooning trade surplus with the United States, which hit a record US$202 billion in 2005, has fanned antagonism over the persistent imbalance between the two countries. That figure is bigger than China's global trade gap because China has trade deficits with some nations.

The latest data were likely to rachet up complaints over China's currency controls, which its trading partners say keep the value of the yuan artificially low, making the country's exports cheap in overseas markets.

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