BEIJING, Oct 13: China’s trade surplus plunged 29 per cent in the first nine months of 2001 from the same period last year as export industries were hit by the global slump, state media said on Saturday.

The trade surplus accumulated from January to September was $13.6 billion down from $19.2 billion in the same period of last year, the Xinhua news agency said, citing customs figures.

Exports in the first nine months rose seven per cent to 195 billion dollars, down dramatically from a growth rate of more than 33 per cent in the same period of 2000.

The reason was that many of the main markets became less active buyers of Chinese goods, the agency said.

Exports to the United States rose just 4.8 percent in the first nine months of $2001 to 40.3 billion, while exports to Taiwan were down 2.4 per cent, Xinhua said.

A small silver lining was the exports in September alone, which increased 4.4 per cent from the same month last year.

This was up from a growth rate in exports of only 0.9 per cent in August from a year earlier.

Imports rose 11 per cent to 181.4 billion dollars in the first nine months, the agency said.—AFP