China’s current account surplus in the first quarter fell 48 percent from the same period last year, official data showed yesterday.
The current account surplus — the broadest measure of trade with the world — reached US$40.9 billion (NT$1.23 trillion) in the first three months of the year, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said in a statement on its Web site.
This marks the first time China has published quarterly data on its balance of payments, the statement said. The data was previously reported bi-annually.
Last year, China’s current account surplus dropped for the first time in eight years — by 35 percent year-on-year to US$284.1 billion — as the global crisis hit exports.
Net inflow of direct investment into China totaled US$17.5 billion in the first quarter, the statement said.
The big inflow of foreign capital in the period was caused by low US interest rates and put strong pressure on the Chinese central bank, Dow Jones Newswires quoted an unnamed SAFE official as saying.
Meanwhile, foreign direct investment in China rose 11.3 percent year-on-year in the first four months of this year, the commerce ministry said on its Web site, suggesting confidence in the world’s third-largest economy continues to grow.
Foreign companies pumped in US$30.8 billion in direct investment in the country from January to April, it said. The figure marked an acceleration from the 7.7 percent jump seen in the first quarter.
Last month alone, foreign investment rose 24.7 percent to US$7.3 billion, it said.
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