Mumbai: India replace Canada to become China''s
10th-largest trading partner in January this year, as
the monthly two-way India- China trade zoomed 63 per
cent to $2.63 billion for the month, latest data from
Chinese customs show.
Canada-China
trade volume stood at $2.23 billion in January this
year against India-China trade volume of $2.63 billion.
Chinese
exports to India shot up by 63.23 per cent to $14.58
billion while Indian exports to China grew by a mere
7.05 per cent to $10.46 billion, Chinese customs statistics
showed.
The
European Union, United States and Japan remained the
top three trading partners of China during the period,
with bilateral trade volume of $26.46 billion (up 37.9
per cent), $23.43 billion (up 27.8 per cent) and $17.51
billion (up 26.5 per cent) respectively, the figures
showed.
China''s
trade surplus stood at $15.9 billion in January as exports
gained during most of the 17 months, adding pressure
on the yuan.
The gap, however, was lower from the previous month''s
$21 billion. China''s trade surpluses are typically highest
in the fourth quarter and smallest in the first three
months of the year.
China''s
exports rose 33 per cent from a year earlier while imports
jumped 27.5 per cent, more than double December''s gain,
on purchases of industrial products including automobiles
and machinery.
The
G7 industrial nations singled out China for its currency
policy for criticism at the weekend, calling for larger
moves against the currencies of trading partners.
The
G7, especially the US, argue that China is keeping the
yuan weak to make its products cheap. The export boom
is flooding the financial system with cash, hindering
Chinese government''s efforts to reign in investment
bubbles and rising inflation.
The
yuan, meanwhile, declined 0.12 per cent to 7.7568 against
the dollar in the evening trade in Shanghai. The currency
has climbed 4.3 per cent against the US dollar since
China scrapped a decade-long peg in July 2005.
China
is planning to cut some import tariffs and export rebates,
Fu Ziying, the assistant minister of commerce, said
last month. The country last year reduced incentives
for overseas shipments of steel and textiles.
China''s
trade gap widened to a record $177.5 billion in 2006
and pushed the nation''s foreign currency reserves to
more than $1 trillion.
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