China's trade surplus this year has already scorched past the record 12-month figure of last year, official data showed yesterday, giving further ammunition to critics of the Asian giant's currency policies.
The accumulated surplus from January to last month was US$185.7 billion, the customs bureau said, exceeding the US$177.5 billion for all of last year.
After three record monthly trade surplus figures in June, July and August, last month's US$23.9 billion dollar surplus was the fourth-largest ever, the customs figures showed. It was also up 56 percent from a year earlier.
"There will definitely be pressure on the currency to rise in value," said Chen Jijun, a Citic Securities economist in Beijing.
On Thursday, Washington filed its fourth WTO complaint against China, challenging its restrictions on imports of copyright-intensive industries such as films and music.
US Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David McCormick argued late last month that greater flexibility in the yuan's rate would not damage China's economic growth: "What currency flexibility will do for China is support -- and in fact be a necessary component of -- a growth strategy that brings higher consumption to Chinese households and more balanced, harmonious and sustainable growth."
China's central bank governor has said there was no timetable for making the yuan fully flexible.
Foreign criticism reflects not just general dissatisfaction with China's currency policies, but also practices pursued in individual sectors. This was highlighted in yesterday's customs data which showed that in the first nine months, steel products exports rose 73.3 percent year-on-year, while imports declined 8.2 percent.
European steelmakers are preparing to file a complaint with the European Commission alleging that China's steelmakers are exporting prices below production cost.
But with the focus on China's exports, some economists argued more attention ought to be paid to the role played by imports in bringing about the large surplus.
Exports last month rose 22.8 percent year-on-year to US$112.5 billion, but imports were up by 16.1 percent at US$88.6 billion, the customs bureau said.
"The rather high trade surplus in September is linked to a modest rise in imports," said Li Huiyong, an economist with Shenyin Wanguo Securities. "I tend to think this has come about as a number of local enterprises have started making products that substitute goods that previously had to be imported."
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)