China's trade surplus bigger than Japan's for 1st time

[AGENDA21]

China's trade surplus exceeded Japan's on a U.S. dollar basis in 2005 for the first time since comparable data became available, according to the Finance Ministry's preliminary trade statistics released Thursday.

The trade surplus last year declined 26.5 percent from the previous year to 8.79 trillion yen on a customs-clearance basis, the first decrease in four years.

The figure is equivalent to 80.1 billion dollars, far lower than China's 101.9 billion dollars.

Though the value of Japan's exports was the highest ever, the value of imports also hit a record high. The eclipse of export value by import value has been attributed primarily to the cost of imported petroleum products, which ballooned due to recent high crude oil prices.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20060127TDY01003.htm