Trade surplus to decrease in second half
By Jiang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-08-09 05:50

China's trade surplus is expected to drop nearly US$10 billion by the end of the year.

An aerial photo shows part of the municipality of Shanghai, August 8, 2005. [newsphoto]

First-half figures showed a surplus of US$39.6 billion, a figure forecast to shrink to US$30 billion for the second half of the year, according to the State Information Centre.

"Growth in exports should slow down, narrowing the gap between imports and exports," the centre predicted in a recent report.

In the second half, exports are expected to grow 22 per cent, and imports 18 per cent.

In the first half, exports grew 32.7 per cent and imports 14 per cent.

The report attributed the possible decline in export growth to the revaluation of the reminbi, which has increased costs for export companies and spurred imports.

The slowdown of the world economy and the decline in foreign direct investment to China this year are also likely to have a negative impact on exports.

China's foreign trade volume reached US$645.03 billion in the first six months this year, with exports and imports at US$342.3 billion and US$302.7 billion respectively, according to statistics from China's General Administration of Customs.

The surplus was higher than the entire 2004 figure of US$32 billion.

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