GUANGZHOU, Oct. 28(Xinhuanet)-- China's trade surplus is forecast to break a new high to reach 90 billion US dollars this year, said a commerce ministry official at an ongoing trade fair in this capital of south China's Guangdong Province on Friday.

China's foreign trade this year is forecast to reach 1.4 trillion US dollars, up 20 percent year-on-year, said Li Rongcan, an official with the ministry when releasing China's autumn foreign trade report, which was jointly made by the ministry and the International Trade Economic Cooperation Institution.

The reporter said at the 98th Chinese Export Commodities Fair that China's foreign trade broke the benchmark of one trillion US dollars at the end of the third quarter, which was two months before the record of last year.

He said that China's monthly foreign trade volume exceeded 100 billion US dollars seven months in a row. By the end of September, monthly exports have retained a 20 percent growth rate for 39 months consecutively.

He said that China has taken effective measures to rein in the macro-economy in an effort to reduce unstable and unhealthy elements in the economy, which has caused dramatic falls in the import of raw materials and machinery equipment.

He cited the example of imports of steel products, which dropped by 3.93 million tons in the first three quarters, compared with that of the same period last year.

Li said that the total exports this year are estimated to reach746 billion US dollars, up 26 percent from the year-ago period. The imports are expected to surge by 18 percent to reach 655 billion US dollars. Enditem