China will strive to reduce its "excessively large" trade surplus this year, Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday at the opening of the National People's Congress in Beijing.

China's economy surged 10.7 percent in 2006, powered largely by strong exports, which rose 33 percent.

Though export growth slowed by a slight 1.2 percentage points last year and imports rose only 2.4 points, China's trade surplus expanded to a record US$177.5 billion last year, up 74 percent from the previous high set in 2005.

The surplus continued to soar in January, jumping 67 percent from a year ago to US$15.88 billion. Economists said the spike could ignite inflation and aggravate the already-tense trade relations between the world's fourth-largest economy and its major commercial partners, which have pressed China to allow further appreciation of its currency.

To reduce the hefty imbalance, the premier said the government will limit exports of products whose manufacture uses high levels of energy and releases substantial pollution. The country instead will support the export of high value-added products and goods with Chinese trademarks, upgrading the processing trade and expanding the export of services and agricultural products.