China trade surplus shrinks in December

China's trade surplus fell sharply in December and was also way short of consensus estimates, as leaders in Beijing prepare for the upcoming bilateral meeting with the US later this month. The trade surplus last month totaled US$13.1bn, the customs bureau said on its website today. That compared with US$20.8bn median estimate of economists and November’s figure of US$22.9bn. Exports rose 17.9% to US$154.2bn from a year earlier and imports climbed 25.6% to US$141.1bn, the customs bureau said. December surplus was the smallest since April. The increase in exports was less than economists’ 23.3% median estimate and compares with a 35% gain in November. Import growth compared with a forecast of 24.9% and the 38% increase in the previous month. A higher comparative base a year earlier may have had an impact on the December numbers, according to some economists. China's full-year trade surplus narrowed 6% to US$183.1bn even as trade bounced back from the worst financial crisis in decades with both exports and imports rising to records in December. In 2009, China’s trade surplus stood at US$196.06bn. Currency will be on the agenda when the US President Barack Obama meets his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao on Jan. 19. In December, China had a US$14bn trade surplus with the US, today’s data showed.