(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-17 09:44

China's trade surplus is expected to rebound beginning in March after a sharp year-on-year decline in February, the China Securities News reported, citing Commerce Minister Chen Deming.

Related readings: Trade at Shanghai port up 20% in first two months China's exports to grow steadily Trade surplus likely to last for a while China's trade surplus drops sharply to US$8.55b in February China's monthly trade surplus up 22.6% in January

China posted a trade surplus of $8.56 billion in February, down sharply from $23.76 billion a year earlier, after export growth slowed to 6.5 percent after posting 20 percent growth or higher in every previous month since April 2007.

Chen was quoted as saying that the sharp decline in exports in February was a one-off because many companies front-loaded their exports to ship before the lunar new year.

Chen said the ministry has set a 15 percent growth target for the trade surplus this year.