China's trade surplus jumps - Telegraph "When policymakers elsewhere have limited capacity to stimulate their economies, this large surplus makes China a net drag on demand in the rest of the world," said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics. The trade data heightened expectations that the Chinese Government will announce further measures to stimulate the economy in the short term. The People's Bank of China has already surprised markets with two interest rate cuts within a month, and China's Premier, Wen Jiabao, has signalled repeatedly in recent weeks that the Government intends to announce further measures to support growth. The Chinese economy grew at an annual rate of 8.1pc in the first quarter, the slowest rate in almost three years, and economists predict growth slowed further in the second quarter to 7.6pc.