Arya News - China has never deliberately pursued a trade surplus, Vice-Premier of the State Council of China Ding Xuexiang said on Thursday.
"We have never deliberately pursued a trade surplus," Ding said at the opening ceremony of the 9th China International Import Expo in Shanghai. According to the latest data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs, China"s total foreign trade reached $5.8 trillion in the first three quarters of the year, increasing by 23.8% year-on-year. Exports grew by 21.3% to $3.4 trillion, while imports increased by 27.5% to $2.4 trillion, increasing the trade surplus to $938 billion in the reporting period. Despite a relatively large surplus in trade in goods, China has a deficit in trade in services, Ding said. He warned that the beggar-thy-neighbor policy and the overgeneralization of security issues can only exacerbate trade imbalances, adding that enhancing dialogue and mutual trust is the right way of addressing frictions. The 9th China International Import Expo is taking place in Shanghai from November 5-10, with 4,140 companies from 162 countries and regions presenting their products on a total area of 440,000 square meters (473,612 square feet).