China's Trade Surplus Rises 98.5% In March

China's trade surplus surged 98.5% in March from a year earlier to US$11.19 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said April 11. The trade surplus for the first three months of the year was up 41.4% from the same period in 2005 to $23.31 billion.

The March figure of $11.19 billion compared with a trade surplus of $2.45 billion in February. The February figure was the lowest monthly trade surplus that China had posted in 15 months and was largely attributed to the Lunar New Year Holiday when factories shut down and workers went on vacation for a week.

Foreign trade then boomed in March with exports rising 28.3% year-on-year to $78.05 billion and imports growing by 21% to $66.86 billion. First quarter exports grew by 26.6% to $197.3 billion, while imports were up 24.8% year-on-year to $174 billion.

China's trade surplus more than tripled last year to a record $101.9 billion as the country maintained robust economic growth of 9.9%.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006