国际英语新闻：Trade surplus plunges, easing pressure on yuan

BEIJING, May 11 -- China's trade surplus nosedived 87 percent from a year earlier to $1.68 billion in April, a drop analysts said will ease the pressure on revaluation of the yuan.

Exports surged 31 percent to $119.9 billion while imports soared 50 percent to $118.2 billion. Total trade volume grew 39 percent to $238.2 billion.

March saw a trade deficit of $7.24 billion, the first monthly deficit in the past six years.

The trade surplus will continue to narrow in the months ahead due to weak overseas demand, analysts predicted.

"We are highly likely to see trade deficits for May and June because domestic demand will stimulate import growth while global uncertainties, such as the Europe debt crisis, will weaken overseas demand," said Liu Wei, president of the School of Economics at Peking University.

The trend is "good for the stability of China's foreign exchange policy in the short term and will alleviate the pressure to appreciate the yuan", he added.

The Ministry of Commerce said recently that the foreign trade picture will not be very rosy this year because of rising raw material costs, mounting trade protectionism and a grim outlook for global markets.