China Reports Record Trade Surplus

China’s trade surplus surged to a record in July as export growth unexpectedly accelerated and imports fell, suggesting the U.S. and European recoveries will help sustain expansion in the world’s second-largest economy.

Overseas shipments increased 14.5 percent from a year earlier, the Beijing-based customs administration said today, beating all estimates in a Bloomberg News survey that had a median projection of 7 percent. Imports dropped 1.6 percent, leaving a trade surplus of $47.3 billion, bigger than all analyst estimates.