China's trade surplus climbed 22.6 percent in January from the same month a year ago, state media said Friday, but economists said a stronger currency could soon put a dent in the rising trend.
The surplus of 19.5 billion dollars in January, published by the state-run Xinhua news agency, quoting the customs bureau, compared with a figure of 22.7 billion dollars in December.
"The surplus was bigger than I expected. Probably exporters tried to push out exports ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in early February," said Ma Qing, an analyst with CEB Monitor Group, a Beijing-based research institute.
"Many of January exports were based on 2007 exchange rates. But the currency has risen rather fast in the past couple of months, and that could start having an impact as we approach summer," he said.
Exports reached 109.7 billion dollars in January, up 26.7 percent from the same month a year ago. Imports grew 27.6 percent in the same month to 90.2 billion dollars.
"Imports have posted strong growth and the trade gap has begun to decline as the government's policy adjustments have begun to pay off," Xinhua said, citing customs authorities. Among recent adjustments, the government has cut export rebates and imposed export taxes, in a bit to address foreign concerns about the trade surplus.
China's growing trade surplus has been a source of considerable concern among its trading partners, giving rise to claims that an artificially low exchange rate gives Chinese exporters an unfair advantage. China's trade surplus hit a record high of 262.2 billion dollars last year, up 47.7 percent from 2006, earlier figures from the customs authorities showed.
China moved its currency, the yuan, away from a pegged exchange rate to the US dollar in July 2005, and has since allowed it to strengthen by about 15 percent. However, foreign voices continue to urge China to do more and allow its currency to rise at a faster pace.