????盡管中國的主要貿易國市場仍存在諸多的問題，然而在6月份，中國備受關注的貿易順差仍然飆升至223億美元，創7個月以來的新高。盡管美國高居不下的失業率和歐洲日漸嚴重的債務問題仍一直困擾著當地消費者，但中國的出口量與去年同期相比仍增長了17.9%。

????這組數據強有力地證明了中國出口所具有的彈性。但這并不一定是個好消息，因為作為世界第二大經濟實體，中國正在努力謀求更平衡的增長，將其經濟重心從海外轉向國內市場。中國政府本周早些時候發布的這組新數據可能導致美國和其他國家藉此向北京施壓，要求其進一步加快人民幣增值步伐。

????盡管中國的貨幣在幫助本國向他國出口產品和服務方面功不可沒，但是中國6月的貿易順差卻另有其因。

????自2010年6月中國開始允許人民幣升值以來，人民幣兌美元匯率已經上漲了5.5個百分點。然而這個結果對某些人來說仍是微不足道的。美國財長提姆西?蓋特納早已公開敦促中國加快人民幣升值步伐。部分美國立法委員已開始建議國家采取更加嚴厲的懲罰措施來對付那些人為低估本國貨幣價值的國家。美國和其他一些國家正逐漸擺脫金融危機的影響，外貿已經成為他們拉動經濟增長的救命稻草。有鑒于此，美國國內對人民幣的這種態度就不足為奇了。

????但是斟酌一下那些針對人民幣的負面評價，我們不禁要問，這個黑鍋真的應該由人民幣來背嗎？

????6月份的貿易順差還反映出了另一個事實，中國的進口明顯放慢了腳步。總進口額達1，397億美元，增幅19.3%，創20個月以來的增幅新低。原因之一是因為中國政府正通過緊縮貨幣來遏制食品和資產價格的進一步增長。

????除此之外，進口放緩的另一個原因是投資者對歐洲債務問題的擔憂引發了一些商品價格的下跌，全球經濟金融分析機構IHS Global Insight的全球經濟學總監托德?李評論道。在剛剛過去的三月份，原油、鐵礦石等諸多貨物價格的快速上漲導致了中國出人意料地爆出了73億美元的貿易逆差。但是在過去的11周當中，正當希臘經濟動蕩，瀕臨債務違約邊緣之時，商品價格出現了下滑。6月，由于國際原油價格降低了5個百分點，中國進口原油掉價23億美元。

????當然，一個月的數據僅夠窺豹一斑。但如果我們以年為單位來看這個趨勢，我們會發現中國的進出口差額正逐步下滑。

????2008年中國的貿易順差為2，970億美元，2009年跌至19，80億美元，2010年再次縮小至1，850美元。穆迪風險管理咨詢（Moody's Analytics）預測，中國今年的順差將進一步下滑----原因是因為目前貿易順差已達到450億美元，而2009年同期為560億美元。

????盡管美國商務部（U.S. Commerce Department）本周二報道稱，美國的貿易逆差已經達到了近兩年半以來的新高，但這并不應該成為給中國施壓并要求其加速人民幣升值的理由。否則美國難免會被扣上虛偽的帽子。華爾街日報（The Wall Street Journal）周一指出，美國出口之所以能取得快速增長，弱勢美元幫了大忙。2010年，美國對外出口商品及相關服務共1.3萬億美元，較2002年的6，970億美元有大幅的增長。也正是在2002年，美元匯價開始了從高位回落的旅程。

????China's closely watched trade surplus swelled to $22.3 billion in June, hitting a seven-month high amid troubles in some of the country's biggest overseas markets. Chinese exports rose 17.9% compared with the same period a year ago even as high unemployment in the U.S. and escalating debt problems in parts of Europe continued constraining consumers.

????The strong numbers underscore the resilience of Chinese exports. But that's not exactly good news as officials try to rebalance growth so that the world's second-largest economy is more reliant on selling goods and services at home than abroad. And the figures, released by China's government earlier this week, could boost pressure on Beijing from the U.S. and other countries to let the yuan appreciate faster.

????Although China's currency has generally helped the country sell goods and services cheaply abroad, June's trade surplus has more to do with factors beyond the yuan's value.

????Since China began to let its currency rise in June 2010, it has strengthened more than 5.5% against the U.S. dollar. The efforts aren't enough for some, however. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has publicly urged China to accelerate appreciation of its currency. And some U.S. lawmakers have suggested more punitive actions to deal with nations believed to be artificially keeping their currencies weak. This isn't all too surprising, given that the U.S. and others recovering from the financial crisis have been counting on exports to grow their economies.

????But for all the bad rap the yuan gets, it's hard not to wonder if it's really deserved.

????June's trade surplus reflects a significant slowdown in Chinese imports, which rose 19.3% to $139.7 billion – the slowest pace in 20 months. This comes as China's government tries to tame steadily rising food and property prices by way of monetary tightening.

????What's more, the slowdown in imports can be attributed to the recent fall of certain commodity prices as investors worry about Europe's debt crisis, says Todd Lee, global economics director with IHS Global Insight. It was just in March when rapidly rising prices for shipments of everything from oil to iron ore helped China unexpectedly post a $7.3 billion trade deficit. But in the past 11 weeks as Greece teetered on the edge of default, commodity prices have dropped. In June, Chinese imports of crude oil fell by $2.3 billion – mostly due to a 5% drop in global oil prices during the month.

????Of course, the monthly statistics only tell part of the story. If we look at the bigger trend on a year-over-year basis, Chinese exports relative to imports have actually been declining.

????China's trade surplus reached $297 billion in 2008, but fell to $198 billion in 2009. It narrowed further in 2010 to $185 billion. Moody's Analytics forecasts the surplus is on track to fall even more this year – pointing that it has reached $45 billion so far, compared with $56 billion over the same period last year.

????And even though the U.S. Commerce Department reported today that the U.S. trade deficit reached its highest level in May in two and a half years, this shouldn't be taken as reason to put further pressure on China to appreciate the yuan at a faster pace. After all, it would be sort of hypocritical. As The Wall Street Journal pointed out Monday, U.S. exports have gained in a big way with a weaker dollar. In 2010, U.S. goods and services sold abroad totaled $1.3 trillion, up significantly from $697 billion in 2002 when the greenback's value began falling from its peak.