MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

China posts highest trade surplus in third quarter since pre-crisis 2008

Europe and US have been pushing for a stronger Yuan

China posted a 16.9 billion US dollars trade surplus for September, the largest quarterly surplus since the financial crisis in 2008. Exports rose 25.1% from a year earlier and imports climbed 24.1%, the customs bureau said on its website today.

The third-quarter trade gap was 65.6 billion, the most since a 114 billion surplus in the final three months of 2008.

The US and the EU have suggested that China’s weak Yuan policy is distorting the global currency system by forcing other emerging market countries to intervene. Yuan forwards rose toward a two-year high after the trade data and minutes showing that Federal Reserve policy makers were prepared to ease monetary policy last month, a move that could increase money flows to Asia.

European and U.S. officials argue that a stronger Chinese currency would aid the global recovery by stoking demand within the nation and reducing international economic imbalances. China’s GDP expanded 10.3% in the second quarter as the nation replaced Japan as the world’s second-biggest economy.

“What’s happening is, as China holds its currency down, their currencies are moving up,” US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in an interview with PBS, referring to other emerging markets’ exchange rates. Other nations “have to work very hard to make sure they’re not at an unfair disadvantage with China.”

Chinese officials can point to improvements in the trade balance. Imports rose to a record value of 128.1 billion, limiting the surplus to the smallest in five months. Still, the trade gap was 31% bigger than a year earlier, a comparison with a previously published figure showed.