Trade surplus rebounds in April
(Xinhua)Updated: 2007-05-11 14:20
China's trade surplus in April more than doubled the figure of March to
US$16.88 billion, though the country's exports grew slower and imports rose
faster over the past month, according to the General Administration of
Customs.
But the figure was still a drastic decline from February's
US$23.7 billion, the second-highest monthly level on record.
Zhang
Yansheng, an economist with the National Development and Reform Commission, said that the
seesawing monthly surplus figures have indicated the uncertainty in China's
trade growth.
"But I don't think we could repudiate the functions of
government macro-economic control intending to narrow surplus," he
said.
China has used a package of industrial and taxation policies since
last year to rein in exports of energy-and-resources-consuming products and to
simultaneously facilitate imports of advanced equipment and
technology.
The administration said the aggregate surplus for the first
four months has reached US$63.31 billion, with the April exports growing at a
slower 26.8 percent to US$97.45 billion and imports, at a faster 21.3 percent to
US$80.57 billion.
But experts argue that the adjustment remains minute.
The rising yuan which has appreciated 5.4 percent accumulatively since the 2005
exchange rate reform, coupled with high crude oil prices and rising local
production costs, should theoretically put Chinese exports into an increasingly
unfavorable position, they said.
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