China's Trade Surplus Widens 98.5% Y/Y In Mar 2006

The Ministry of Commerce said that the country's trade surplus increased 98.5% year-over-year to US$11.19 billion in March 2006. In February, the trade surplus had stood at US$2.45 billion. For Q1/2006, the trade surplus increased 41.4% y/y to US$23.31 billion. The February figure was the lowest monthly trade surplus that China had posted in 15 months and was largely attributed to the Lunar New Year Holiday when factories shut down and workers went on vacation for a week.

In March, exports increased 28.3% y/y to US$78.05 billion, while imports increased 21% y/y to US$66.86 billion. In Q1/2006, exports grew 26.6% y/y to US$197.3 billion, while imports increased 24.8% y/y to US$174 billion. Last year, trade surplus increased to a record US$101.9 billion.