China is expected to maintain steady growth in exports this year despite a slowdown in the United States, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said yesterday.

His remarks came after the General Administration of Customs said China's monthly trade surplus shrank to $8.56 billion in February, roughly a third of the level in the same month last year.

Chen attributed the decline in exports in the last two months to the lunar new year holiday, during which Chinese factories halt work.

"Exports are also influenced by international factors," he said. "Hit by the subprime mortgage crisis, the US economy has slowed down and the country's consumption expenditure decreased."

China's exports to the US increased only 0.4 percent in the first two months from a year ago. The country's exports to the US, its second largest trade partners, jumped over 14 percent last year.

Chen said the Chinese government's regulatory steps to curb exports of resource-intensive and polluting products, which were implemented last year, are beginning to show.

As a result of these measures, such as lowering export tax rebates and restricting processing trade, exports of crude oil and billet was nearly zero last month while steel declined to 3.11 million tons from 5.64 million tons in January.

Chen noted that appreciation of the yuan also contributed to the decline in exports. The yuan set a new high on Feb 29, hitting a central parity rate of 7.1058 against the US dollar.

(China Daily March 13, 2008)