Japan's trade surplus soars

JAPAN'S trade surplus ballooned by more than 700% in May as exports to other Asian countries soared 15%. Exports rose by 8.8% while imports slipped for the tenth month, but there was a year-on-year rise from April's figures, raising hopes that the export recovery is feeding through to domestic demand.

The export boom was led by cars, hi-tech televisions and computer chips. The US remained Japan's biggest export market but other Asian nations provided the highest growth. The rapidly growing importance of China as a key market was underlined by a 26% leap in the value of Japan's exports there.