China's February trade surplus soared nearly tenfold compared to the same month last year, hitting $23.76 billion, the General Administration of Customs said yesterday.

While exports in February were 51.7 percent higher than exports in January, imports rose 13.1 percent, less than half the previous month's growth rate.

Exports hit $82.1 billion in February, while imports were $58.34 billion for the month.

Total trade volume in February reached $140.44 billion, up 32.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the latest figures.

The trade surplus for February was nearly 50 percent higher than in January, when it reached $15.88 billion.

The yuan's higher value has meant increased revenues for exporters, while imported primary products, which were less costly, led to a slower rise in the value of imports, said Mei Xinyu, a research fellow with the International Trade and Economic Cooperation Research Institute under the Ministry of Commerce.

The value of the Chinese currency against the US dollar hit a new high last Thursday with the central parity rate reaching 7.7386 yuan to the dollar.

As of yesterday the yuan had gained 613 basis points since the beginning of 2007.

Last year, China's trade surplus jumped 74 percent year on year to reach $177.47 billion.

The country's top trading partner, the European Union, saw its trade with China reach $51.08 billion in the first two months of 2007, up 42.7 percent from the same period of last year, the customs data show.

The United States was second with trade volume reaching $43.86 billion, followed by Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Guangdong Province reported foreign trade volume of $83.55 billion in January and February, accounting for 28.1 percent of the nation's trade volume, the highest of all provinces.

Source: China Daily