2007 trade surplus hits new record - $262.2B

China's trade surplus surged 47.7 percent over a year earlier to reach a record $262.2 billion in 2007, the General Administration of Customs said Friday.

That was below the US$300 billion figure forecast by some Chinese economists but still represented strong gains. China had made it clear that it is not intentionally pursuing a large trade surplus

The administration also pointed out the country's soaring trade surplus eased a bit in the fourth quarter last year, with imports catching up and exports slowing down.

The trade surplus growth was 69.4 percent for the first three quarters of this year and up to 75 percent in 2006.

In 2007, export rose 25.7 percent to $1.22 trillion, and import climbed 20.8 percent to $955.8 billion, the administration said.

The export growth was 1.5 percentage points lower than in 2006, while the import growth posted a gain of 0.9 percentage points.

The December trade surplus was $22.69 billion, down 14.2 percent from the previous month.

The total foreign trade hit a new high of $2.17 trillion last year, up 23.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the administration.

The country's trade surplus for 2006 stood at $177.47 billion.