BEIJING - CHINA said on Tuesday its trade surplus hit a monthly all-time high of US$35.2 billion (S$52.8 billion) in October, on the back of surging exports.

The trade surplus for the first 10 months of the year was 216 billion US dollars, the customs authorities website said.

This marked a slight increase from 212.4 billion US dollars in the same period of last year, according to previously released customs figures.

Exports in October rose 19.2 percent from a year ago to 128.3 billion US dollars, customs said. -- AFP