Rise in China’s Nov. trade surplus to stoke renewed criticism over yuan value

China’s trade surplus rose in November raising fresh fears about renewed criticism from the US and Europe over Beijing’s currency policy.

Export from China rose 34.9 percent to $153.3 billion in November year-on-year and imports increased 38 percent to $130.4 billion, leaving a trade balance of $22.9 billion in November, the Chinese customs bureau said on Friday.

November trade surplus was 15 percent higher compared with the same month a year earlier but below the $27.1 billion in October 2010.

With the US and Europe being the biggest trading partners the trade surplus with the countries in November stood at $16.8 billion and $13.6 billion respectively.

The new trade surplus is likely to add to the criticism of China’s exchange rate policy. The US and Europe say that Beijing is keeping the yuan undervalued to boost exports. But China's yuan remained unchanged rising from 6.69 to 6.67 against the dollar during November.

A study by Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) published in August suggested that if China allowed its currency to rise by 1 percent against its trade partners, its trade surplus would shrink by 0.30 to 0.45 percent of GDP.
On the other hand China is speeding up the yuan globalization.

Recently, China and Russia said they will renounce the US dollar and use their domestic currencies in bilateral trade. Chinese central bank said last Friday it will expand cross-border yuan trade settlements as part of Beijing's plan to reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar.

People's Bank of China (PBOC) official Fan Linchun said the central bank will enable as many as 5,000 companies operating in Guangdong province to use yuan for trade with Hong Kong, Radio Television Hong Kong reported on last Thursday.

Based on data provided by Standard Chartered and the People's Bank of China, an estimated 200 billion yuan in Chinese imports will be settled in yuan renminbi in 2011, increasing to 2.8 trillion yuan by 2015.