loosecannon
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- May 7, 2007
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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