Nation's foreign trade up sharply in July

China's foreign trade posted strong growth in July, and the momentum in trade expansion is expected to continue in the second half of the year, industry experts said on Sunday.

The country's exports in July surged almost 24 percent year-on-year to 2.25 trillion yuan ($330 billion), while imports rose 7.4 percent to 1.56 trillion yuan, said the General Administration of Customs. Total trade in July hit 3.81 trillion yuan, up 16.6 percent from a year earlier. For the first seven months, China's imports and exports totaled 23.6 trillion yuan, rising 10.4 percent year-on-year.

"The fast pace in foreign trade growth has fully demonstrated the competitiveness of China in the sector when its industrial chain gradually restores normal performance," said Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing. "The growth is quite remarkable, as it comes amid growing uncertainties in the global economy and trade."

The export growth in July was the highest for the year and beat expectations. It was up about 2 percentage points from the better-than-expected export growth of 22 percent in June.