China's trade surplus in June topped expectations on surprising strength in exports that suggests the global economy maintained momentum despite worries about a fresh slowdown. China said Saturday its exports continued to soar in June, as demand for Chinese-made goods remained robust despite the European crisis and tepid US recovery. The nation's overseas shipments of items including electronic gadgets, shoes and textiles, reached $137.4 billion last month, up 43.9 percent from the previous year. The pace of growth was slower than in May when exports surged 48.5 percent, but was better than most analysts had expected. China posted a trade surplus of $20.02 billion in June, up slightly from the month before, according to figures released by customs authorities. The figure compared with a trade surplus of $19.53 billion in May and $1.68 billion in April. Imports gained 34.1 percent year-on-year to $117.4 billion, marking a slowdown from May when imports of raw materials and other products soared 48.3 percent. “Stronger than expected exports show that external weakness has not yet shown its full impact,” said Ken Peng, a Beijing-based economist for Citigroup. “Growth momentum is slowing down, but not as sharply as expected and this should keep policy stable for now.” The strength in exports may have been underpinned by steelmakers and other raw material producers accelerating shipments before the government scraps tax rebates on some products this month, analysts said. That left China with a trade surplus of $20.0 billion, its largest in nine months. The market had expected a surplus of $13.8 billion. “Exports were better than expected because the negative impact from the European debt crisis was not as serious as the market had feared,” said Liu Nenghua, an economist with Bank of Communications in Shanghai. “Growth in China's exports will slow down in coming months, that's for sure,” Liu added. “But there will be no sharp drop.” The strong trade numbers could help ease fears - for a time, at least - about the potential for a skid in the Chinese economy after the government's campaign to clamp down on the red-hot property market. It could also lead to fresh calls for Beijing to let the yuan rise more quickly. China de-pegged its currency from the US dollar on June 19, after keeping it locked in place for 23 months to help exporters ride out the global economic turmoil. The yuan has gained just 0.78 percent against the dollar since then, and pressure is again building on US President Barack Obama to take a stronger line against Beijing. Critics say a persistently undervalued exchange rate gives China an unfair trade advantage, robbing other countries of jobs and growth. In that respect, the wider Chinese trade surplus is not entirely welcome news for the global economy. Over the past year, global firms and investors looked to China to make up for the shortfall in their demand.
