Rail workers at the construction of the 3-km railway bridge in Nanhu town, the starting point of a railway over the Lop Nur, a former lake that is known as "the sea of death", in Hami, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 09, 2010. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese exports jumped 48.5 per cent in May increasing pressure to allow its currency to appreciate.

The fastest growing big economy posted a trade surplus in May of $19.5bn compared with the $1.7bn surplus in April and a small trade deficit in March. The growth rate for exports was 18.1 percentage points up from the figure for April, and the import growth rate dipped slightly from 49.7 percent reported in April. Exports totalled US$131.76bn in May, China's customs' administration bureau reported, while imports topped $112.23bn. The data is flattered by poor results in May 2009.

The total foreign trade value rose 48.4 per cent from a year earlier to $243.99bn in May. The figure was even 10.2 per cent higher than May 2008 before the global financial crisis began, the bureau said. Exports were up 9.2 per cent from May in 2008 and imports grew 11.4 per cent. From January to May, the total value of foreign trade rose 44 per cent year on year to $1.1trn.

Exports were up 33.2 per cent to $567.74bn and imports rose 57.5 per cent to $532.35bn in the five months to May..

The trade surplus fell 59.9 per cent to $35.39bn in the first five months.

Shipments to the European Union jumped 50 per cent from a year earlier, compared with 29 per cent in April. Those to the US gained 44 per cent, up from 19 per cent.

China has pegged the renminbi/yuan to the US dollar at a rate of 6.83 since mid-2008 to boost exports.