China has reported its trade surplus hit a new record high for a fourth straight month in August.
The August surplus climbed to $18.8 billion, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing data from the Chinese customs agency. That was well above the old record of $14.6 billion set in July.
So far this year, China's global trade surplus has grown to $95.6 billion, Xinhua said, nearly as large as the $102 billion gap for all of 2005.
China's growing trade gap has fuelled demands by Washington and other trading partners for Beijing to raise the value of the yuan. That would make Chinese goods more expensive and might restrain surging exports.
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who is preparing to visit Beijing next week, hasn't said whether he will press Chinese officials to ease currency controls. But the yuan has been a key issue for other Treasury envoys, and experts expect him to raise it as well.
Critics say the yuan is undervalued and gives Chinese exporters an unfair price advantage, hurting their foreign competitors and threatening thousands of jobs abroad.