China May Struggle to Trim Trade Surplus, Regulator Hu Says

By Wing-Gar Cheng

Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- China may struggle to rein in its record trade surplus because of international economic turmoil, the nation's top currency regulator said.

``There are unprecedented difficulties and challenges in promoting an international balance of payments,'' Hu Xiaolian, director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, said in a statement on the regulator's Web site today. China will continue to pursue foreign-exchange reforms as well as further opening its economy, she added.


China's trade surplus climbed to $28.7 billion in August as import growth weakened to 23.1 percent, the slowest pace in almost a year, on falling commodity prices. The nation wants to trim the surplus to cool gains by the yuan. A stronger currency makes Chinese goods more expensive overseas, harming exporters also facing slowing demand because of the U.S. housing market collapse.

``The current international and domestic economic situation is very complicated,'' Hu said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Wing-Gar Cheng in Beijing at wgcheng@bloomberg.net