China posts another record trade surplus in Sept

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BEIJING, Oct 13 (AFP): China said today its trade surplus hit a monthly all-time high of 29.3 billion dollars in September, although it was down slightly for the first three quarters of the year.
Exports in September reached 136.4 billion dollars, up 21.5 per cent over the same month last year, while imports during the period were 107.1 billion dollars, up by 21.3 per cent, the general administration of customs said.
The previous monthly surplus record was 28.7 billion dollars in August.
The new record monthly trade surplus came as a surprise as many economists had predicted exports would slow on falling global demand brought on by the global financial crisis.
China's trade surplus for the first nine months of the year reached 180.9 billion dollars, down 2.6 per cent year-on-year, the administration said on its website.
Exports for the first three quarters of the year hit 1.074 trillion dollars up 22.3 per cent over the same period in 2007, while imports during the period increased by 29 per cent to 893.1 billion dollars, it said.