China's Trade Surplus With US Jumps In May

China's trade surplus with the United States jumped in May, official data showed on Friday, worsening the imbalance at the centre of tensions between the economic titans while Beijing's advantage with the rest of the world shrank.

The record imbalances are at the heart of US President Donald Trump's anger at what he describes as Beijing's unfair trade practices that are hurting American companies and destroying jobs.

For the first five months of the year, China's surplus with the US crossed the US$100 billion mark, hitting US$104.8 billion.

Customs data showed the surplus grew 11.7 percent on-year to US$24.6 billion in May, with exports to the US rising by about 12 percent and imports up 11 percent.

With the wider world, Chinese demand has outpaced its shipment growth, with its surplus of US$24.9 billion for the month down 38.9 percent from last year.

China's exports grew 12.6 percent in May while imports jumped 26 percent year-on-year, outpacing forecasts of 11.1 percent growth and 18.0 percent respectively, by analysts pooled by Bloomberg News.

"The particularly strong May figures are due to uncertainties from the trade negotiations," said Iris Pang, an economist at ING Groep NV in Hong Kong to Bloomberg News.

"Exports risks are mounting, so the exporters expedited importing components for re-export."

Trump has demanded a $200 billion reduction in its trade deficit with China over two years. (AFP)