China's trade surplus was about 290 billion USD in 2008 as total foreign trade reached 2.55 trillion USD, rising 18% from 2007, Reuters reported. That would make the December trade surplus about 34 billion USD as the report said China had a surplus of 255.95 billion USD in the first 11 months of the year. In the first 11 months of 2008, external trade was 2.38 trillion USD; rising 20.9% from a year earlier, but the growth rate fell from 2007, it added.