China's macro-economic moves to balance foreign trade were paying off as the country's trade surplus growth had slowed by September, Chinese customs officials said on Monday.

China's trade surplus, standing at US$185.65 billion in the first nine months, slowed by 2.1 percentage points compared with the growth registered in the first eight months, according to the customs officials, without revealing the exact figure for the surplus growth in first nine months.

The latest figures released by the State Administration of Customs also showed China's trade volume totaled US$1.57 trillion for the first nine months, up 23.5 percent on last year, or a drop of 0.5 percentage points over that for the first eight months.

The September trade surplus also came lower at US$23.9 billion, down from US$24.98 billion in August and a record US$26.91 billion in June.

The country exported US$878.24 billion of goods in the first nine months, representing a growth of 27.1 percent from a year earlier, or a slowdown of 0.6 percentage points over that for the first eight months.

China has imposed export tariffs, removed or cut tax rebates on exports and expanded the category of products of processed trade listed as "discouraged" since June, in a bid to lower the surplus.

However, the trade surplus figure in the first three quarters has already surpassed that for the whole of 2006, which soared 74.2 percent to a record US$177.47 billion.

China's surplus growth will slow down with the implementation of a series of tightening measures, but it would take time for the measures to yield results, Vice Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng previously said.

The latest figures from the Chinese customs also said China exported US$497.2 billion worth of machinery and electronic products during the first three quarters, up 28 percent year on year, while its imports totaled US$360.51 billion, up 16.1 percent.

The growth of exports and imports of machinery and electronic products was in line with that for the first eight months.

Machinery and electronic products continued to serve as the country's most important foreign trade products, accounting for 56.6 percent of total exports.

Meanwhile, latest figures showed the European Union remained China's largest trade partner with bilateral trade at US$256.13 billion by September, while the United Stated and Japan followed with bilateral trade volume at US$221.36 billion and US$171.94 billion respectively.

China's trade volumes with the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the Republic of Korea were all above US$100 billion in the first nine months.