China's trade surplus jumps to a monthly record

China's trade surplus jumped to a new all-time monthly high in October, according to official data released Monday, despite government pledges to restrain export growth and adding to pressure for action on trade barriers and currency.

The report comes amid demands by some U.S. lawmakers for sanctions if Beijing fails to ease currency controls. The European Union says it also will press China for action at a summit this month.

China's trade surplus for the first 10 months jumped a massive 59 percent to US$212.4 billion, according to figures released by the General Administration of Customs. The annual surplus already has surpassed the full-year record of US$177.5 billion set in 2006.

October's trade gap rose to US$27 billion (€18.4 billion), up 13.6 percent from the same month last year, according to the customs data. The previous monthly record high was US$26.9 billion in June.

Chinese leaders say they are not actively pursuing huge surpluses and have imposed new taxes to restrain exports of steel, plastic and other goods deemed too dirty or energy-intensive.

Foreign demand for low-cost Chinese goods has stayed strong despite a string of foreign recalls and warnings over faulty or tainted Chinese goods ranging from toothpaste to tires.

The surge in import revenues has strained the government's ability to restrain pressure for prices to rise. The central bank drains billions of dollars a month from the economy through bond sales, and has piled up the world's biggest foreign reserves at US$1.3 trillion.

China's trade surplus with the United States rose 12 percent to US$15.7 billion (€10.7 billion) on total two-way trade of US$26.7 billion (€18.2 billion), according to the customs agency.

U.S. lawmakers are working on several proposed measures to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports if Beijing fails to take action on its currency controls.

The United States and other trading partners complain that China's currency, the yuan, is kept undervalued, giving its exporters an unfair price advantage and adding to the country's surpluses.

The surplus with Europe, China's biggest trading partner, rose nearly 50 percent to US$13.9 billion (€9.5 billion) on total trade of US$31.4 billion (€21.4 billion), the agency reported.

A European Union delegation led by Prime Minister Jose Socrates of Portugal, which holds the 25-nation group's presidency, will press Chinese leaders for action to ease trade barriers and to let the yuan rise faster in value, EU Ambassador Serge Abou said Monday.

The comments reflected Europe's growing official urgency about China's swollen trade surpluses, an area where Washington has taken the lead in the past on lobbying Beijing.

China's imports in October climbed 25.5 percent from the same month a year earlier to US$80.7 billion, according to the agency. Exports grew by 22.3 percent to US$107.7 billion.

The United States reported a $232.5 billion trade deficit with China last year, its biggest ever with any country. The gap this year is on track to surpass that.

For the first 10 months of the year, China's total exports grew 26.5 percent to US$985.84 billion, while total imports rose 19.8 percent to US$773.48 billion.