China's politically charged trade surplus with the United States widened to a record US$31.05 billion in August, compared with US$28.09 billion in July, customs data showed on Saturday.

The amount surpassed the previous record of US$28.93 billion set in June.

The August surplus with the US was larger than China's overall surplus of US$27.91 billion for the month.

For January-August, China's trade surplus with the United States was US$192.64 billion, compared with about US$167.94 billion in the same period last year.

China's large trade surplus with the United States has long been a sore point in relations and is at the centre of an increasing bitter dispute between the world's two biggest economies.

Beijing and Washington have slapped each other with tit-for-tat tariffs in recent months and threatened more duties on each other's goods. Talks aimed at easing tensions have yielded no major breakthroughs and both sides look to be digging in for a long fight that could weigh on global growth.

- Reuters