The Import and Export Bank of China (China Exim Bank) has granted US$20 billion of supportive fund to promote Chinese imports from other countries, a bank official said on Thursday.

China Exim Bank will step up such support, said the bank's governor Li Ruogu at a press briefing during the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

China's trade surplus hit US$185.65 billion in the first nine months, surpassing the US$177.47 billion for the whole of 2006, according to the General Administration of Customs.

China Exim Bank, established in 1994, serves as a State policy bank aimed at boosting China's foreign trade and economic cooperation by providing policy financing service, onlending foreign government loans and lending the Chinese government Concessional Loan.