China's trade surplus with US hit new record in August

Beijing, Sept 8: China's trade surplus with the United States ballooned to a new record $31 billion in August, rising 18.7 percent despite a raft of US tariffs imposed over the summer, official data showed Saturday.

China's exports rose to $44.4 billion in August, a 13.2 percent increase from the same period last year, customs data showed, even though US President Donald Trump pulled the trigger on taxes of up to 25 percent on billions worth of Chinese goods.

Over all, China's goods trade went up 9.1 percent year on year to 19.43 trillion yuan (about 2.85 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of this year, customs data showed.

Exports rose 5.4 percent year on year in the January-August period to 10.34 trillion yuan while imports grew 13.7 percent to 9.09 trillion yuan, resulting in a trade surplus of 1.25 trillion yuan, which narrowed by 31.3 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs.

(AFP/APP)