China's foreign trade surges despite COVID-19 jitters, trade outlook still resilient

China's foreign trade of goods jumped 9.4 percent year on year to 19.8 trillion yuan (about 2.94 trillion U.S. dollars) during the first half of the year, official data showed Wednesday.

Exports rose 13.2 percent year on year to 11.14 trillion yuan, while imports increased 4.8 percent from a year ago to 8.66 trillion yuan, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

"The growth of foreign trade picked up significantly in May and June," said Li Kuiwen, spokesperson for the GAC.

As the epidemic prevention and control situation improves and pro-growth policies are taking effect, foreign trade enterprises have resumed work and production in an orderly manner since May.

"In particular, the rapid recovery of imports and exports in the Yangtze River Delta led to a marked rebound in the overall growth of China's foreign trade," Li said.

China's foreign trade growth accelerated to 14.3 percent in June, compared with 9.5 percent in May and 0.1 percent in April.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service