BEIJING, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- China said Wednesday that its trade surplus soared in October, reaching $27.1 billion from $16.9 billion in September.
Exports climbed 22.9 percent from October 2009, while imports also jumped from a year ago, rising 25.3 percent, The New York Times reported.
The People's Bank of China on Wednesday raised the reserve ratio for banks by 0.5 percentage point in an effort to slow economic growth.
The surplus, however, will likely change the tone of Group of 20 Nations summit in Seoul, where the buildup has included criticism of the U.S. Federal Reserve's $600 billion bond purchasing program announced a week ago.
Several nations have criticized the United States of deliberately undermining the dollar to gain a price advantage over imports.
Prior to that, China was on the hot seat for pegging its currency to the U.S. dollar at the start of the global economic downturn.
Economists have estimated the Chinese currency is between 20 percent and 40 percent undervalued.
China, however, allowed its currency to appreciate in June. The yuan has since gained about 3 percent on the U.S. dollar.
"The renminbi's faster appreciation against the USD in recent weeks is unlikely to have any real impact on either exports growth or the economic recovery," Qu Hongbin, an economist at HSBC wrote in a research note Wednesday.
