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

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s trade surplus with the United States rose to $323.32 billion last year, the highest on record going back to 2006, Reuters calculations based on customs data showed on Monday.

That compared with about $275.81 billion in 2017.

China’s exports to the United States rose 11.3 percent last year, while imports from the U.S. only increased 0.7 percent.

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 biggest economies.

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