China's foreign trade up 24.5 pct in first seven months

BEIJING -- China's total imports and exports expanded 24.5 percent year on year to 21.34 trillion yuan (about $3.3 trillion) in the first seven months of the year, official data showed Saturday.

The volume marked a 22.3 percent increase compared with the level during the same period in 2019, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

Both exports and imports logged double-digit growth in the Jan.-July period, jumping 24.5 percent and 24.4 percent from a year earlier, respectively.

Trade surplus increased 24.8 percent year on year in the first seven months to 1.98 trillion yuan.

In July alone, the country's imports and exports rose 11.5 percent year on year to 3.27 trillion yuan, customs data showed.