Containers and trucks are seen at a terminal of the Qingdao port in Shandong province, China November 8, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s trade surplus with the United States widened to $35.55 billion in November, compared with $31.78 billion in October, Chinese customs data showed on Saturday.

For January-November, China’s trade surplus with the United States was $293.52 billion, compared with about $251.26 billion in the same period last year.

China’s large trade surplus with the United States has long been a sore point with Washington, and is at the center of a bitter dispute between the world’s two biggest economies.

The two countries have hit each other with tit-for-tariffs on goods worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

In Argentina last weekend, Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day truce that delayed the planned Jan. 1 U.S. hike of tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion of Chinese goods while they negotiate a trade deal.