China’s trade surplus unexpectedly climbed to an 18-month high and exports grew to a record in July, adding pressure on Premier Wen Jiabao to allow faster appreciation of the yuan.
The gap surged 170 percent from a year earlier to $28.7 billion, the customs bureau said, exceeding the forecasts of all 29 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Exports rose 38.1 percent to $145.5 billion and imports climbed 22.7 percent to $116.8 billion, the bureau said on its website today.
