China's trade surplus, which tripled to a record $102 billion in 2005, may top $100 billion again this year as overseas companies build export factories there, Zhai Zhihong, an official at the statistics bureau, said in a report published June 23.

The surplus has caused a buildup in China's reserves of foreign currency, which doubled in the two years through March to $875 billion, overtaking Japan's as the world's largest. China may report June reserves as early as this week.

Economists including Grace Ng at JPMorgan Chase & Co. say China should let its currency appreciate faster to curb the gap, which would help limit foreign-currency inflows. The yuan has gained only 1.5 percent against the dollar since China revalued it a year ago, lagging behind gains in other Asian currencies such as the South Korean won.

The central bank has relied on a mix of monetary and administrative policies to slow growth in lending. On April 28, it raised the benchmark lending rate for the first time in 19 months. In June, it ordered commercial banks to set aside more money as reserves. The central bank has also sold bonds to select commercial banks and imposed stricter guidance on lending.

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