CHINA'S trade faltered further in June due to combined factors at home and abroad, casting shadow over an already weaker-than-expected domestic economy.

Exports contracted 3.1 percent from a year earlier to US$174.3 billion in June, reversing the increase of 1 percent a month earlier, the General Administration of Customs said this morning.

Imports decreased 0.7 percent to US$147.2 billion, weakening further from the cut of 0.3 percent in May which was in sharp contrast with the jump of 16.8 percent in April.

They left a trade surplus of US$27.1 billion in June, compared with May's surplus of US$20.4 billion.

Although a worsening trade had been anticipated, the final data still surprised the market on the downside, analysts said.

In the first half of this year, China's trade still expanded 8.6 percent to US$1.99 trillion, with a surplus of US$107.9 billion, which was up 58.5 percent from a year earlier. A clear trend of weakening exports and imports was reflected in the data which were much better in the first three months than those in the second quarter.

Zheng Yuesheng, a senior official at the administration, said a number of factors, including sluggish external demand, higher labor and production costs, a stronger yuan, and slower growth in the domestic economy, contributed to the fall of trade, especially in June and May.