Belt & Road Q1 trade surges

China's trade with economies along the Belt and Road Initiative posted double-digital growth year-on-year in the first quarter of the year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

Sun Jiwen, the ministry's spokesman, said trade in goods between China and the Belt and Road economies grew 26.2 percent in the first three months from the same period of last year.

China's exports to these countries and regions rose by 15.8 percent from a year earlier, and imports grew by 42.9 percent, Sun told a news conference.