China witnessed a record monthly trade surplus of US$13 billion in May, but experts predicted the widening of the trade surplus would not last the whole year.

According to statistics released by customs yesterday, exports reached US$73.1 billion last month, up 25.1 per cent year-on-year, while imports reached US$60.1 billion, up 21.7 per cent. The trade surplus has risen sharply from US$10.5 billion in April.

The US$13 billion trade surplus in May, the largest so far this year, is expected to increase calls from trading partners for China to accelerate the revaluation of the yuan.

"China's widening trade surplus stems from the global industrial transfer, which located manufacturing industries in Asian countries," said Li Yushi, vice-president of the Academy of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation, a think-tank under the Ministry of Commerce.

Li said exports of foreign-invested enterprises in China have risen much faster than those of domestic firms.

Although China's trade surplus hit US$101.9 billion in 2005, more than triple that of 2004, a large proportion was contributed by foreign-invested firms.

Li said if the net surplus of foreign firms were excluded, China's trade surplus should be about US$20 billion to US$30 billion.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)