Trade surplus drop as imports exceed exports for April

15 May '08

2 min read

Foreign results of China for the first four months of 2008 were revealed by the General Administration of Customs according to which the total import and export of the country reached US $791.14 billion.

An increase of 24.4 percent was recorded compared to the same period last year of which exports registered $424.57 billion while imports touched $366.57 marking a surge of 21.5 and 27.9 percent respectively. The cumulative trade surplus amounted to $58 billion, down by 7.9 percent with a net drop of $4.95 billion.

In the month of April alone, China's total imports and exports fetched $220.74 billion, an increase of 23.9 percent, individually exceeding $100 billion for the month setting new records. While exports touched $118.71 billion with a surge of 21.8 percent, imports stood at $102.03 billion, jumping by 26.3 percent over $100 billion for the first time on single month imports. On an average, trade surplus for April was marked at $16.68 billion which was nearly same as recorded last year.

Since the beginning of 2008, imports by state-owned enterprises grew significantly. According to customs statistics, from January to April, imports and exports by foreign-funded enterprises were $443.52 billion, an increase of 19.7 percent.

Over the same period, imports and exports by state-owned enterprises were US $191.48 billion, an increase of 29.3 percent. In addition, imports and exports by collective enterprises, private enterprises and other enterprises stood at $156.14 billion, escalating by 33 percent.

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