(Yicai Global) July 13 -- China’s foreign trade had positive momentum in the first half of this year, with imports and exports soaring to a record high and notching up 13 consecutive months of year-on-year growth, according to a top official.

Total imports and exports surged 27.1 percent to CNY18.07 trillion (USD2.79 trillion) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, Li Kuiwen, director of statistics and analysis at the General Administration of Customs, told a press conference today. They jumped 22.8 percent compared with the same pre-pandemic period in 2019.

Exports added 28.1 percent to CNY9.85 trillion (USD1.52 trillion), while imports rose 25.9 percent to CNY8.22 trillion, Li said, citing customs data.

Last month, trade reached CNY3.29 trillion, a 22 percent gain over last year.

In the first six months, China’s foreign trade with its top three trading partners -- the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union, and the United States -- reached CNY2.66 trillion, CNY2.52 trillion, and CNY2.21 trillion, representing year-on-year increases of 27.8 percent, 26.7 percent, and 34.6 percent.

During the same period, imports and exports in general trade surged 30.7 percent to CNY11.19 trillion, with its share in the total foreign trade up 1.7 percentage point to 61.9 percent over the same period last year.

At the same time, new trade patterns, including cross-border e-commerce and market procurement trade, are developing fast, and the structure of trade patterns has been further optimized, according to Li.

In terms of exports, mechanical and electrical products surged 29.5 percent to CNY5.83 trillion, accounting for 59.2 percent of the total, an increase of 0.6 percentage point from the same period last year.

In addition, private companies continued to be the largest contributors to the growth of China’s foreign trade. Their first-half imports and exports rose 35.1 percent to CNY8.64 trillion, accounting for 47.8 percent of the total value, 2.8 percentage points higher than in the same period last year.

Imports and exports by foreign-funded firms rose 19 percent to CNY6.61 trillion, and that of state-owned companies climbed 23.8 percent to CNY2.75 trillion.

Editor: Peter Thomas