China's foreign trade up 9.9 pct. in first nine months

China's goods trade rose 9.9 percent year on year to 22.28 trillion yuan (about US$3.23 trillion) in the first nine months of the year, customs data showed Friday. 

Aerial photo taken on July 9, 2018 shows cargo ships at Jingtang port area of Tangshan Port, north China's Hebei province. [Photo/Xinhua] 

Exports increased 6.5 percent in the same period to 11.86 trillion yuan while imports grew 14.1 percent to 10.42 trillion yuan, resulting in a trade surplus of 1.44 trillion yuan, which narrowed by 28.3 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs.

In the first nine months, exports and imports of products under the general trade category, which are differentiated from processing trade, gained 13.5 percent from a year ago to 13.02 trillion yuan, accounting for 58.4 percent of the total foreign trade, 1.9 percentage points higher than the same period in 2017.

The country's trade with major trading partners saw an increase during the January-September period. Trade with the EU, its largest trading partner, climbed 7.3 percent, and trade volume with the United States and ASEAN countries increased by 6.5 percent and 12.6 percent, respectively.

Trade with Russia rose 19.4 percent, and that with Poland was up 11.9 percent. Trade with Kazakhstan increased 11.8 percent.