China's General Administration of Customs stated on June 8 that imports of US products were up 11.4 per cent  to touch US$14.7 billion in May from a year earlier. This is the third consecutive month China has bought more American products. China bought 9.7 million tonnes of soybeans, the biggest amount since July, helping push up imports overall by 26 per cent to US$187.9 billion. Overall, exports rose 12.6 per cent year on year to US$212.9 billion. China’s US-bound merchandise exports rose 11.6 per cent year on year to US$39.3 billion last month, putting its trade surplus with the US at US$24.6 billion in May, slightly lower than China’s overall trade surplus of US$24.9 billion. According to US data, China had a US$375 billion surplus with the US last year, but Beijing contends the surplus is about US$100 billion lower than that figure.