November trade hits record high
By Jiang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-12-14 06:27

China recorded US$133.7 billion in imports and exports in November, the highest for a single month ever, according to the latest statistics published by China's General Administration of Customs.

Customs officials check commodities for export at a logistics centre in Yiwu in East China's Zhejiang Province on Monday. China realized a two way trade of US$1.28 trillion in the first 11 months of this year. [newsphoto]

Exports reached US$72.1 billion last month, up 18.4 per cent year-on-year, while imports reached US$61.6 billion, up 23.5 per cent over the previous year.

It added a big chunk to China's total trade surplus. The country's trade surplus reached a record of US$90.8 billion in this 11-month period.

The figure matches an earlier prediction made by China's Ministry of Commerce. The ministry said in an October report that the country's trade surplus is likely to grow to between US$90 billion and US$100 billion this year.

The huge trade surplus, which has so far tripled last year's, has roused concerns among trade partners, which this year resulted in anti-dumping charges and safeguard investigations.

In order to deal with the problems, the Ministry of Commerce is encouraging export companies to upgrade product quality, develop self-owned brands and add more value to products to increase the competitiveness of exports instead of relying on the low cost of goods and the abundance of cheap labour.

Customs announced that the country has realized a two-way trade of US$1.28 trillion in the first eleven months of this year, reflecting an increase of 23.5 per cent over the previous year.

Exports jumped 29.7 per cent year-on-year to US$686.5 billion while imports grew 17.1 per cent yearly to US$595.7 billion.

However, export growth is expected to witness a slow down next year, said Mei Xinyu, a trade expert of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a think tank of the Ministry of Commerce.

"The figure will be kept at 25 to 30 per cent," he said, adding that the growth rate of imports is expected to increase by 20 per cent.

According to the statistics, general trade grew 21.4 per cent to nearly US$538.8 billion in this period while processing trade jumped 26 per cent to around US$620.6 billion.

The European Union and the United States have remained as China's two largest trade partners over the past eleven months with trade volumes with China reaching US$196.8 billion and US$191.6 billion respectively.

The country's bilateral trade with Japan, ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) and South Korea also reached a combined US$100 billion.

(China Daily 12/14/2005 page9)