Japan posted its second-biggest current account surplus on record in 2016, government data showed Wednesday, sparking fears that Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might be urged by US President Donald Trump to take steps to reduce the US trade deficit with Japan.

    Japan's Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report that the current account surplus, one of the widest gauges of international trade, rose to a nine-year high of 20.65 trillion yen about ($183.66 billion) last year, up 25.8% from the previous year, according to Japan's (Kyodo) News Agency.

    The figures came before Abe holds a summit meeting Friday in Washington with Trump, who apparently has been dissatisfied with the huge US trade deficit with China and Japan since he took office on January 20.