Foreign trade rises by over 16 percent in first 7 months

China maintained strong foreign trade growth of 16.4 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of the year, reaching $2.61 trillion, amid intensified trade friction with the United States over tariff increases.

The country's exports rose 12.6 percent year-on-year to $1.39 trillion in the January-July period while imports grew 21 percent to $1.22 trillion, the General Administration of Customs said on Wednesday.

In July, exports rose 12.2 percent year-on-year to $215.57 billion, while imports jumped 27.3 percent to $187.52 billion.