China's exports surged an impressive 48.5 percent from a year earlier to US$131.7 billion in May, the biggest gain in more than six years.

This indicates that China has so far suffered little impact from the European sovereign-debt crisis.

However, analysts said a moderation may follow in the next few months due to economic uncertainties in Europe and the widening trade surplus may renew calls for appreciation of the yuan.

China's trade surplus was left at US$19.5 billion in May with imports also climbing 48.3 percent year on year to US$112.3 billion, the General Administration of Customs said yesterday.

It represented a sharp rise from the surplus of US$1.68 billion in April and the deficit of US$7.2 billion in March.

"The May trade numbers came in much stronger than expected," said Peng Wensheng, a Barclays Capital economist. "Strong growth in exports and a rebound in the trade surplus will likely support calls for a change in exchange-rate policy."

He said the wider surplus in May partly reflected an improvement in China's terms of trade on weaker commodity prices on the global market.

"In the medium to longer term, we expect a continued trend of a declining trade surplus as a percentage of GDP," Peng said.

"This will be caused by the delayed effects of earlier exchange-rate appreciation and an expected decline in the savings rate. Investment is likely to remain strong."

According to Customs, China's exports have rebounded to the level of before the global financial crisis.

The value of foreign sales last month increased 9.2 percent compared with May in 2008, while imports rose 11.4 percent from that period.

The stronger-than-expected data may provide a temporary relief for traders who are in fear of a stagnant growth or even a drop in China's exports after the European crisis.

Defying problems there, demand from the European Union remained robust with a growth of 49.7 percent from a year earlier, up from the lift of 28.5 percent in April.

The EU is China's largest trading partner and the full impact of the crisis is yet to reach the country.

A report by the World Bank yesterday warned of the risk of a reversal of trade fortunes in developing countries.

"The World Bank's projections assume that efforts by the International Monetary Fund and European institutions will stave off a default or major European sovereign debt restructuring," it said.

"But even so, developing countries and regions with close trade and financial connections to highly indebted, high-income countries may feel serious ripple effects."

Huo Jianguo, director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said the crisis in Europe would have a "relatively serious" impact on China's trade.

"The influence will be felt in the third quarter when our exports to Europe may fall by 6 to 7 percent," Huo said.

Since the start of this year, the euro has depreciated by a combined 14.5 percent against the yuan, which has exerted pressure on Chinese exporters to the European market.