CHINA'S trade surplus in August shrank from July because of more imports, but analysts said pressure over the appreciation of the yuan was still mounting.

Last month's surplus settled at US$20 billion, down 30.4 percent from July's US$28.7 billion, which was the highest level since February 2009, the General Administration of Customs said yesterday.

That compared with a US$20.1 billion surplus in June, US$19.5 billion in May, US$1.7 billion in April, and a deficit of US$7.2 billion in March.

"Less trade surplus in August is mainly out of the rebounding imports last month, while the exports moderated a bit due to unstable external demand," said Xue Jun, an analyst at CITIC Securities Co.

Imports last month surged 35.2 percent from a year earlier to US$119.3 billion, up 12.5 percentage points from the increase in July. Exports, on the other hand, expanded 34.4 percent to US$139.3 billion, less than the 38.1 percent expansion of a month earlier.

The accumulated trade surplus in the first eight months fell 14.6 percent from the amount in the same period of last year, standing at US$103.9 billion.

However, pressure rose over the appreciation of the yuan, despite the overall shrinking of the trade surplus so far this year.

"Countries like the United States won't stop exerting political influence over China for a stronger yuan because of the need in their own markets to protect jobs and stabilize their economy," said Li Maoyu, analyst at Changjiang Securities Co.

The yuan has appreciated against the US dollar to 6.77 from 6.83, less than 1 percent since China announced on June 19 making its foreign exchange regime more flexible.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday that China "frankly has not let the currency move very much so far" and "we'd like to see them move more quickly."

According to Bloomberg News, the US House Ways and Means Committee next week will discuss China's currency policy, and some US lawmakers have pressed the Obama administration to demand a speedier appreciation of the yuan.

"With the yuan appreciating very slowly and US midterm elections drawing near, it's inevitable that Sino-US tension will heat up again," said Peng Ken, an economist at Citigroup Inc.

The European Union remained China's biggest trading partner, with a bilateral trading value of US$305.8 billion through August, up 36.2 percent from last year.

The EU was followed by the US and Japan, with bilateral trading values of US$242.6 billion and US$186.8 billion.

Shanghai's trade expanded 39.3 percent on an annual basis to US$235.5 billion in the first eight months, outpaced only by Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces.

Shanghai's exports jumped 33.1 percent year on year to US$115.5 billion through August, Customs said.