SHANGHAI, China -- China's cumulative trade surplus for the year rose to $50 billion in July, far exceeding the $32 billion surplus for all of 2004, as tighter credit and spending policies bit into the growth in imports, the government reported Thursday.

Economists say it is too early for the impact of China's July 21 revaluation of the yuan - raising its value by about 2 percent against the dollar - to show up in trade figures. But the persisting strong trade surplus could fuel calls from the U.S. and other trading partners for further currency adjustments.

China's trade surplus in July totaled $10.4 billion. Exports in July rose 28.7 percent from a year earlier to $65.58 billion, while imports climbed 12.7 percent to $55.18 billion, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Exports surged 32 percent in the first seven months of the year, compared with the same period a year earlier, to $407.94 billion (329 billion euros), Xinhua said. Imports rose by a much more modest 13.8 percent to $357.96 billion (288.7 billion euros) - implying an aggregate trade surplus of $50 billion.

China's exports rose 35.4 percent last year, helping the country's trade surplus to reach a six-year high of $32 billion. The persistent strength in exports, coupled with weaker growth in imports, has fueled a backlash from critics who accused Beijing of keeping the yuan's value artificially weak.

Surging exports of Chinese-made apparel following the abolition of worldwide quotas on textile products at the beginning of the year have further sharpened trade tensions, especially with the United States and Europe.

The ultimate impact of China's revaluation of the yuan from its longtime peg of 8.28 yuan per U.S. dollar to about 8.11 yuan per dollar remains to be seen. The yuan has since gained value against the dollar, and was trading at about 8.1010 at midday Thursday.

A stronger yuan should make China's exports more expensive while making overseas products relatively cheaper, encouraging more imports. But government curbs on spending and credit have hurt purchases of high-ticket items such as luxury cars, sapping growth in imports.

Meanwhile Thursday, the government reported that China's consumer price index, its main measure of inflation, rose a faster-than-expected 1.8 percent over a year earlier in July.

The July figure compares with a 1.6 percent year-on year increase in June, but is well below the 5.3 percent peak reached a year earlier.

Chinese officials warn that inflation remains a threat to China's robust economic growth, which has topped 9 percent for two years running.

However, in the first seven months of the year, the consumer price index has risen at an annual rate of 2.2 percent, well within the inflation target of within 3 percent to 3.5 percent for this year.