China's trade surplus rose 13.5 percent year-on-year in October while growth in exports slowed down and growth in imports sped up on the back of macro controls, according to Customs figures.

The country reported a trade surplus of $27.05 billion last month, the General Administration of Customs said on its website yesterday. Exports increased to $107.73 billion last month, up 22.3 percent from a year earlier, while imports hit $80.67 billion, up 25.5 percent, the fastest in three months.

Growth in exports dropped 0.5 percentage points compared with September while growth in imports increased by 9.4 percentage points.

It indicated macro-control measures in foreign trade are taking effect, the Customs said. Earlier statistics had shown growth in exports of products, affected by the country's tax rebate reduction in July, largely declined in September from previous months.

Experts attributed rising imports to the surging global oil and commodity prices as well as the rising demand at home. Crude oil crossed $98 a barrel for the first time last week and has gained 57 percent so far this year.

"The US slowdown has contributed to relatively weak exports from China since August," said Shen Minggao, a researcher with Citigroup.

China's exports to the US weakened from 18 percent in the first seven months to 9-10 percent in August and September. Trade surplus growth also dropped sharply during the same period, from 19 percent to 8-9 percent.

The figures took the country's imports and exports from January to October to $1.76 trillion, approaching the total of the whole of last year.

The European Union, the United States and Japan remained China's top trading partners in the past 10 months.

China's actual foreign direct investment (FDI) increased 11.15 percent year-on-year to $53.99 billion in these 10 months, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

(China Daily November 13, 2007)