China's trade surplus for the first nine months of this year soared past the full-year record set in 2006 as exports in September rose nearly 23 percent, the government reported Friday, adding to pressure for faster Chinese action on its currency and market barriers.The trade gap in September hit its fourth-highest monthly level on record, rising 56 percent over the year-earlier period to $23.9 billion, according to the Commerce Ministry. That pushed the total for the first nine months of the year to $185 billion, the ministry said, breaking the 2006 full-year record of $177.5 billion. A Chinese cabinet think tank forecast in August that the surplus for all of 2007 could reach $275 billion.

The Chinese government says it is not actively trying to inflate its trade surplus. But some American lawmakers are pressing for sanctions if Beijing fails to take faster action to ease currency controls that they say are fueling the trade gap.



Economists expect the trade surplus — the amount that exports exceed imports — to stay above $20 billion a month amid strong demand for China's low-cost goods despite a string of warnings and recalls abroad over faulty or tainted Chinese-made tires, toothpaste, fish and other products.

Critics of Beijing's trade record say controls on China's currency, the yuan, keep it undervalued and give Chinese exporters an unfair price advantage in foreign markets.

U.S. and other foreign companies also are complaining that China is obstructing access to its markets with new rules on investment, taxes and other issues that appear to favor Chinese competitors.

China's exports rose 22.8 percent in September to $112.5 billion, while imports were up 16 percent at $88.6 billion, according to Commerce Ministry figures.

The country reported an all-time monthly high trade surplus of $26.9 billion in June.

Beijing has tried to restrain export growth by cutting rebates of value-added taxes for exporters and imposing new duties on steel, plastics and other goods that are considered too energy-intensive or polluting.

The United States reported a $232.5 billion trade deficit with China last year, its biggest ever with any country. The gap this year is on track to surpass that.

Beijing has let the yuan rise by more than 9 percent against the U.S. dollar since authorities revalued the currency in July 2005. A stronger yuan is expected to help reduce the surplus by making China's exports more expensive abroad, but critics say the yuan is still undervalued and they want faster action.

American lawmakers are calling for measures to penalize China for its currency controls, despite objections from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who is conducting a long-range "strategic economic dialogue" with Beijing over trade and other disputes and says sanctions would disrupt discussions.

The flood of export revenues also is straining Beijing's ability to contain pressure for prices to rise. The central bank drains billions of dollars a month from the economy through bond sales and has piled up more than $1.3 trillion in foreign reserves.

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Chinese customs statistics (in Chinese): http://www.chinacustomsstat.com