China's trade surplus in May widened to $22.4 billion, up 72.3% from the same month last year, state media said this morning.
The total trade surplus - a source of tension particularly with Washington - in the first five months went up 80% from a year earlier to $85.7 billion, according to the official cited by the China Business News.
The trade surplus in the first half of the year was likely to hit $110 billion if the current trend continued, according to various media reports citing Yang Hongbin, the commerce ministry official.
Yang attributed the runaway trade surplus growth to the rise in the exports of resource products, noting steel product exports in May soared 117% year on year despite the tightening of government curbs.
Last year, China's trade surplus jumped 74% to hit a record $177.5 billion.
The dramatic expansion of the trade surplus in May will lead to further frictions with the United States and China's other major trading partners.
It is likely to offer further ammunition to the United States in its efforts to have China allow its currency, the yuan, to strengthen considerably.
The United States and others accuse China of keeping the yuan artificially low to make Chinese exports unfairly cheap.
