Beijing Urges Patience As US Trade Surplus Jumps

China's trade surplus with the United States surged by a fifth in the first three months of the year with Beijing calling on Washington to be patient as tensions between the economic superpowers simmer.

Fears of a trade war have been rumbling since last month as President Donald Trump has threatened a series of tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods, sparking tit-for-tat warnings from Beijing.

The stand-off lies in the Trump administration's ire at the massive trade imbalance and what it considers unfair practices by China that he says are costing American jobs.

The latest data released on Friday showed the mainland continues to benefit from the two-way trade. Its surplus with the US rose 19.4 percent on-year to US$58 billion in January-March, with exports up 14.8 percent and imports 8.9 percent higher, according to a spokesman for the customs administration.

However, for March the surplus fell to US$15.4 billion from February's US$21 billion, while it was also down from US$17.7 billion 12 months ago.

China registered a rare deficit of US$4.98 billion with the rest of the world last month owing to seasonal factors such as the Lunar New Year holiday.

China's global exports fell 2.7 percent for the month, while imports grew 14.4 percent – the early year hiccup in exports is normal with the long holiday disruptions, analysts say.

Against the backdrop of recent tensions, customs administration spokesman Huang Songping repeated Beijing's line that it is not looking for an advantage over its trading partners.

"We don't strive for a favourable balance of trade [for China], the current state of trade affairs are shaped by the market," he told a briefing in Beijing.

"We hope that the US will listen patiently to rational and pragmatic voices on the trade balance issue."

He reiterated that China does not want a trade war, saying "this trade friction is not conducive to China's interests, nor is it conducive to the interests of the US". (AFP)