China registers record trade surplus
Beijing: China has registered a record trade surplus for the third consecutive month, the Chinese government announced on Thursday. The customs administration said trade surplus rose to $14.6 billion from $10.4 billion in July 2005.

July exports rose 22.6 per cent from a year earlier, to $80.34 billion, while imports rose 19.7 per cent to $65.72 billion, according to official figures.

For the first seven months, the surplus came to $76.0 billion, about 52 per cent more than the total of $50.1 billion in the same period of 2005. The surplus tripled in all of 2005 to $102 billion.
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Asian stocks fall
Singapore: Asian stock markets moved lower on Thursday after the Bank of Korea raised interest rates. South Korea raised its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5 percent -- a five-year high. Hong Kong stocks fell 0.32 percent.

Tokyo's Nikkei average closed the morning session down 0.18 percent. Oil prices fell and gold also dipped. Analysts said the stocks fell due to profit taking.
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