China's Trade Surplus Expands to US$27.3 bln in Jan

Feb. 14 (China Knowledge) - China, the world's largest exporter, saw a trade surplus of US$27.3 billion in January 2012, more than US$16.5 billion last December or US$6.46 billion in January 2011, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The trade surplus was previously expected to narrow to US$10.6 billion last month, according to a forecast made by 16 economists at Dow Jones Newswires.

Song Yu, one of these economists, said the trade surplus increase was principally affected by operation suspension in Chinese New Year, as less raw materials were imported.

Statistics from China's General Administration of Customs indicated that export value slid 0.5% year on year to US$149.94 billion in January, while import value reached US$122.66 billion, down 15.3% from a year earlier.

Last month, the export and import value in Guangdong Province decreased 16.7% year on year to US$61.81 billion, Jiangsu Province declined 12.8% year on year to US$38.05 billion, Shanghai slid 9.7% year on year to US$31.76 billion and Beijing down 1.7% year on year to US$31.75 billion.