Trade volume up sharply, ending a two-year dip

Thanks to new growth engines in exports and robust momentum in imports, China's foreign trade hit more than $4 trillion last year, ending a two-year dip.

The country's overall trade volume jumped by 14.2 percent year-on-year to 27.79 trillion yuan ($4.3 trillion) in 2017, ending two consecutive years of decline, the General Administration of Customs announced on Friday.

GAC spokesman Huang Songping attributed the double-digit growth in trade volume to the global market's recovery, domestic economic expansion, rising commodity prices, emerging markets related to the Belt and Road Initiative and a low comparison basis.