China recorded a current account surplus of US$162.9 billion in the first half of 2007, the foreign exchange regulator said yesterday, vowing to strengthen foreign exchange checks and short-term foreign capital management.

 

The country's capital and financial account surplus was US$90.2 billion during the same period, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said in a report on its website yesterday.

 

The current account surplus accounts for 64 percent of China's balance of payments, 32 percentage points down from last year's 96 percent.

 

The capital and financial account surplus takes 36 percent of the overall international balance of payments, the report said.

 

China's foreign debt surplus amounted to US$327.8 billion by the end of June, up by US$4.8 billion, or 1.49 percent year-on-year, the SAFE said in the report.

 

Mid- and long-term debts accounted for 43.6 percent of the debt surplus, and short-term debts the rest.

 

The SAFE said short-term foreign debts had increased at a slower pace during the period - 11.17 percent year-on-year, 6.48 percentage points lower.

 

This was because of China's stricter short-term foreign debt control, analysts said, as some speculative money has come into the country in the form of short-term foreign borrowings.

 

(China Daily November 1, 2007)