China's foreign trade up 8.6 pct in first seven months

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's goods trade went up 8.6 percent year on year to 16.72 trillion yuan (about 2.45 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first seven months of this year, customs data showed Wednesday.

Exports rose 5 percent year on year in the January-July period while imports grew 12.9 percent, resulting in a trade surplus of 1.06 trillion yuan, which narrowed by 30.6 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs.