November 13, 2002	Wednesday	Ramazan 7, 1423

BEIJING, Nov 12: China’s export growth topped 20 per cent in the first 10 months of the year against the same period of 2001, as the trade surplus widened to nearly $25 billion during the period, official figures showed on Tuesday.

Exports for the first 10 months of the year were valued at $262 billion, up 20.6 per cent year-on-year, while imports rose 18.7 per cent to $237.76 billion, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said.

The trade surplus for the first 10 months of the year widened to $24.4 billion from $19.99 billion in the year to September, the official People’s Daily quoted the GAC as saying.

The report did not provide a comparative figure but last year’s statistics show the trade surplus in the 10 months to October was $17.3 billion, meaning the surplus shot up 41 per cent.—AFP