BEIJING, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- China's October trade surplus rose to $17.03 billion from September's $14.51 billion but the government said it was down 36.5 percent from October of last year.
The General Administration of Customs said October imports rose 28.7 percent year-on-year to $140.46 billion, while exports rose only 15.9 percent to $157.49 billion, the lowest in five months, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
"The weakening of export growth in October turned out to be exactly as I expected," said Zhang Yansheng, director of the Institute for International Economics Research of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, Xinhua said.
"What we're facing now is a grave situation for exports and slowdown is inevitable in the third and fourth quarters," Zhang said.
He blamed the numbers on shrinking external demand, rising costs, liquidity strains and a rising yuan.
The GAC data showed China's foreign trade with its major trading partners -- the European Union, the United States and Japan -- slowed this year, compared to stronger growth in foreign trade with emerging economies.
Despite the problems in Europe, the EU remained China's top trading partner during the January-October period, with trade amounting to $466.94 billion, up 20.2 percent year-on-year.
China's trade with the United States during the same period was up 16.8 percent from a year ago to $363.03 billion.
In the first 10 months of this year ended October, China's trade surplus totaled $124.02 billion, down 15.4 percent year-on-year.
