China's Surplus Soars to $26.9B

China's trade surplus surged to a record $26.9B in June, an 87% increase since last year. Economists attribute the trade gap to China's significantly—as much as 40%—underpriced currency, the yuan, reports Bloomberg. Half of China's surplus is with the US, which recently began preparing legislation to sanction countries that deliberately use a weakened currency to gain an unfair advantage.

Exports from China rose 27% to a record $103.27 billion, while imports increased a meager 14% to $76.4 billion, the slowest growth in four months. On the whole, a boost in overseas sales drove China—which boasts the fastest growing major economy—to an 11.1% total economic increase. (More China stories.)