China's foreign trade up 23.7 pct in first eight months

China's total imports and exports expanded 23.7 percent year on year to 24.78 trillion yuan (about 3.84 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of the year, official data showed Tuesday.

The figure marked a 22.8-percent increase compared with the level registered during the same period in 2019, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

Both exports and imports logged double-digit growth in the January-August period, surging 23.2 percent and 24.4 percent from a year earlier, respectively.

Trade surplus increased 17.8 percent year on year during the same period to 2.34 trillion yuan.

In August alone, the country's imports and exports rose 18.9 percent year on year to 3.43 trillion yuan, the data showed.