China December Trade Surplus Narrows To $13.08 Bln

[loosecannon]

BEIJING (Dow Jones)--China said Monday its trade surplus narrowed sharply in December, news that could help ease trade tensions with the U.S. ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama this month.

The trade surplus shrank to $13.08 billion in December from $22.9 billion in November, customs data showed Monday. The surplus was significantly smaller than the median $21.7 billion surplus forecast in a survey of 11 economists.

U.S. officials have accused China's government of keeping its currency artificially undervalued to help boost exports. The issue is likely to remain a major point of discussion during Hu's U.S. visit to the U.S. from Jan. 18-21. But the yuan has been gaining in value against the dollar in recent weeks, which along with the smaller surplus could strengthen China's hand in those discussions.

"We believe the underlying growth momentum of exports remains healthy," said Goldman Sachs economist Yu Song in a note, despite the slowdown in export growth. Other indicators such as the monthly purchasing managers index indicate export orders remain strong, he said.

UBS economist Wang Tao said the slowdown in December exports was likely because companies rushed to export goods in November ahead of the Christmas shopping season.

China's trade surplus totaled $183.1 billion in 2010, down slightly from $196.06 billion in 2009, the data showed.

2nd UPDATE: China December Trade Surplus Narrows To $13.08 Bln - WSJ.com

this may be interesting

 

[Blair]

Interesting and the prices are still raising as per the last news came . The new year is giving lots of surprises to CHINA specially . Thank you and keep us updated plz .

 

[william the wie]

It's too soon to say China is hitting the wall but unless Russia hits a bumper crop in winter wheat and maize this spring it will hit the wall very soon.

 

[loosecannon]

This is killing me.

During Gates visit to China the Chinese test flight their new stealth bomber, then this:

Yuan to spread as Bank of China lets US customers trade RMB

NEW YORK/HONG KONG, Jan 12 (Reuters) - State-owned Bank of China Ltd has offered yuan trading to U.S. customers, a sign that Beijing this year may increasingly promote the use of the Chinese currency in major financial centers.

The change at Bank of China announced in a posting dated Dec. 2010 means that customers can trade in yuan in the United States for the first time rather than having to do so in Hong Kong.

The New York branch of China's fourth-largest bank said it now lets companies and individuals buy and sell the yuan via accounts with its U.S. branches, although U.S. businesses and individuals can also trade the currency through Western banks.

"The authorities are promoting the use of the yuan in international trade and this is another step in that direction and this means we should see the growth of yuan trading in other regional centers across the world," said Robert Minikin, senior currency strategist at Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong.

One must wonder if the US signed off on this via Gates or if this was another surprise.

 

[william the wie]

The Baltic Dry Index is sinking too.