China's goods trade surplus surpassed $1 trillion in the first 10 months of this year, putting the country on course for a record annual surplus. Cargo ships load containers at an international trade container terminal at Qingdao Port in China. [Getty Images]
China's goods trade surplus surpassed $1 trillion in the first 10 months of this year, putting the country on course for a record annual surplus. Cargo ships load containers at an international trade container terminal at Qingdao Port in China. [Getty Images]

China's goods trade surplus surpassed $1 trillion in the first 10 months of this year, putting the country on track to post the largest annual trade surplus in history.

The General Administration of Customs announced Tuesday that the goods trade surplus from January through October reached $1.04 trillion, up 8 percent from $964.82 billion recorded in the same period last year.

This marks only the second time China's annual goods trade surplus has exceeded $1 trillion, following last year's milestone. Through November of last year, the cumulative surplus stood at $1.08 trillion, and China went on to set a full-year record of $1.19 trillion. Having crossed the $1 trillion threshold a month earlier than last year, China is widely expected to surpass that record by year's end.

China's exports in October surged 35.2 percent from a year earlier, while imports rose 41.6 percent over the same period — both figures beating market forecasts compiled by Reuters, which had projected export growth of 33.5 percent and import growth of 32.0 percent.

The goods trade surplus for October came in at $105.28 billion, falling short of the $125.8 billion market consensus compiled by Reuters.

The record surplus is expected to intensify trade pressure on China from the United States and the EU. Washington is currently investigating China and several other countries for potential overproduction as part of a Section 301 probe into unfair trade practices. Under Section 301 of the Trade Act, the US can impose retaliatory tariffs and other measures if an investigation finds that structural overproduction has resulted in unfair trade practices against the United States.


kate01@heraldcorp.com