China October trade surplus jumps

BEIJING, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- China's October trade surplus soared to $24 billion from September's $13 billion, pointing to its sharp economic recovery, the government said Wednesday.

The customs department said October exports totaled $110.8 billion, down 13.8 percent from the same month of last year, while imports fell 6.4 percent to $86.8 billion in the same month, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

For the first 10 months of this year, China's trade surplus totaled nearly $160 billion.

The European Union remained China's largest trading partner with bilateral trade totaling $292.42 billion. The United States was second with bilateral trade at $239.36 billion.

The release of the latest figures comes days ahead of the scheduled China visit of U.S. President Barack Obama.

China's economy is forecast to grow more than 8 percent this year. Additionally, with its trade surplus continuing to rise sharply, the country can expect outside pressure to grow to let its yuan appreciate against major world currencies.