China's trade surplus surged 47.7 percent over a year earlier to reach a record $262.2 billion in 2007, the General Administration of Customs said Friday.

The administration also pointed out the country's soaring trade surplus eased a bit in the fourth quarter last year, with imports catching up and exports slowing down.

In 2007, export rose 25.7 percent to $1.22 trillion, and import climbed 20.8 percent to $955.8 billion, the administration said.

The export growth was 1.5 percentage points lower than in 2006, while the import growth posted a gain of 0.9 percentage points.

The December trade surplus was $22.69 billion, down 14.2 percent from the previous month.

The total foreign trade hit a new high of $2.17 trillion last year, up 23.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the administration.

The country's trade surplus for 2006 stood at $177.47 billion.