China’s trade surplus widened to 22.5 billion U.S. dollars for the month of May as the continued appreciation of the yuan and booming exports fueled a 73 percent rise from a year ago. The surplus was in line with feedback from international economists, which had predicted a median of about 19 billion U.S. dollars. For the January through May period, China’s trade surplus has grown by 84 percent (year-on-year) and now stands at 85.72 billion U.S. dollars. For comparison, the trade surplus was only at 46.59 billion U.S. dollars in the same time frame in 2006.