China's trade volume is expected to grow by 22 percent to 25 percent this year to reach US$1.4 trillion, Monday's Economic Daily reported.

The country's trade surplus for entire 2005 would achieve a new high of US$90 billion to 100 billion, an official of China's Ministry of Commerce anticipated.

China's exports were estimated to grow by 30 percent to about US$750 billion, while imports would increase by 18 percent to about US$660 billion.

The estimations were based on figures for the first eight months of the year.

In the first eight months, China's exports grew by over 30 percent each month except July. The growth rate for imports initially declined steeply, but apparently recovered in August.

China's trade surplus reached US$60.22 billion in the first eight months, almost doubling the US$32 billion figure for the whole 2004.

China's trade surplus with the United States, the European Union and Japan totaled US$104.16 billion, an increase of US$54.6 billion, or a year-on-year increase of 110 percent, compared with the figure for the same period last year.

The big trade surplus was mainly attributed to the rapid increase in exports of textiles, light industry products, and agricultural and oil products.

(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2005)