China’s Trade Surplus Rises to Another Record

China’s global trade surplus rose to a record monthly high of $14.5 billion in June, the Commerce Ministry reported Monday, raising the likelihood of more tension over Beijing’s currency controls.

Figures on new loans and money supply, meanwhile, show signs of a slight slowdown, and China’s sizzling economic growth has boosted expectations of a further tightening in credit.

Exports rose 23% from a year earlier to $81.3 billion while imports climbed 19% to $66.8 billion, the ministry said in a report on its website. The previous record surplus for a single month was $13 billion in May.

China’s trade surplus has been soaring in recent months after hitting an all-time high of $102 billion last year, more than triple the $32-billion surplus in 2004.

China’s ballooning trade surplus with the United States, which hit a record $202 billion in 2005, has fanned antagonism between the two countries. The figure is bigger than China’s overall trade gap because China has trade deficits with some nations.

June’s increase raised the trade surplus for the first half of the year to $61.5 billion, a 55% jump over last year’s first-half surplus of $39.7 billion.

The surge in exports also has worried China’s economic planners, who say the country needs to rely more on domestic demand than on exports and investment to fuel growth.

The economy grew at an annual rate of 10.3% in the first quarter. First-half figures have yet to be released, but state media reports have said growth probably remained at about 10%.

Other data released Monday suggest regulators may be making some headway in efforts to tighten credit and curb spending on factories and construction.

Chinese economic planners have expressed alarm at the surge in lending. The country’s central bank raised key interest rates in April and increased the amount that banks were required to hold in reserve. Further tightening is expected in the second half of the year, China Business News, a state-run newspaper, said Monday.

New loans totaled $45 billion in June and $267.5 billion for the first half of the year, $12.8 billion less than a year earlier, China Securities Journal, another state-run paper, reported.