China's monthly trade surplus stood at US$22.9 billion in November, according to a latest report from the General Administration of Customs.

The figure, still the second-highest on record, is a bit smaller than that calculated by Xinhua on the basis of preliminary statistics released by China's Customs on Wednesday.

It also witnessed a slight drop from October's US$23.83 billion, this year's fifth monthly record high.

The report shows that the November foreign trade climbed up 26.1 percent to US$168.788 billion, including an export of US$95.854 billion, up 32.8 percent, and an import of US$72.933 billion, up 18.3 percent.

The year's aggregate trade surplus surged to US$156.521 billion through November, dwarfing the US$102 billion for the full-year of 2005.

In the latest update, the administration also fine-tuned its preliminary statistics on accumulated imports and exports.

The aggregate imports in the first 11 months surged 27.5 percent to US$875.042 billion while the aggregate imports climbed 20.6 percent to US$718.522 billion.

At Thursday-closed Central Economic Work Conference, the Chinese leadership made balancing international payments a major goal for next year, pledging to redouble efforts to vigorously expand imports and overseas investment, while maintaining rational export growth and use of foreign investment.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2006)