China's trade surplus may hit a record high of 14.6 billion U.S. dollars in July, sources claimed Wednesday.

Although the official figure will not be released by Chinese customs until Friday, the Shanghai Securities News quoted insiders as saying that in July, China's exports may hit 80.34 billion U.S. dollars, up 22.6 percent year on year, with imports reaching 65.72 billion U.S. dollars, up 19.7 percent.

July will be the 27th consecutive month of trade surplus for China. The trade surplus for the first seven months is expected to reach 75.95 billion dollars, the newspaper said.

China's monthly trade surplus has climbed this year, with 13 billion dollars registered in May and 14.5 billion dollars in June.

Sun Mingchun, an economist with Lehman Brothers, a renowned international investment bank, predicted that the increasing trade surplus would exacerbate inflationary pressures in China, and lead to further interest rate hikes by the central bank.

China's huge trade surplus has sparked disputes with its trading partners. The United States, which has a huge trade deficit with China, has been pressuring China to further appreciate its currency.

U.S. manufacturers contend that the RMB is undervalued, making U.S. goods more expensive in China and Chinese products cheaper in the United States.

Source: Xinhua