Photo: VCG

China's total merchandise trade grew by 5.2 year-on-year from January to October to 36.02 trillion yuan ($5 trillion), continuing stable growth and displaying consistent structural improvements, official data showed on Thursday.

According to the General Administration of Customs (GAC), exports rose 6.7 percent year-on-year to 20.8 trillion yuan, while imports climbed 3.2 percent to 15.22 trillion yuan in the first 10 months.

Thanks to a package of policies, the country's merchandise trade grew by 4.6 percent year-on-year in October alone in yuan-denominated terms, an increase of 3.9 percentage points from the September rate, according to the GAC.

Zhou Maohua, an economist at China Everbright Bank, attributed the robust exports in October to the joint effect of several factors including the improving structure of China's foreign trade, the central government's support policies and the base effect.

"The better-than-expected export performance, along with a package of counter-cyclical measures, will further strengthen market confidence in the achievement of the full-year economic growth goal," Zhou told the Global Times on Thursday.

Foreign trade maintained stable growth in the first 10 months, with the scale witnessing further expansion and the structure showing constant improvement. The annual foreign trade goals of stable growth and quality improvements are on track to be met, said Lü Daliang, a GAC spokesperson, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

In the first 10 months, the general trade value accounted for 64.1 percent of the country's total foreign trade. Trade value of private enterprises accounted for 55.1 percent of the total during the period, a bright spot in China's foreign trade development, GAC data showed.

Throughout this period, ASEAN remained China's top trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching 5.67 trillion yuan in the first 10 months, up 8.8 percent from a year earlier, accounting for 15.7 percent of the country's total foreign trade. It was followed by the EU with trade standing at 4.64 trillion yuan and the US at 4.01 trillion yuan.

China's trade with countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative totaled 16.94 trillion yuan, a 6.2 percent year-on-year increase.

China's exports are expected to remain steady, Zhou said, noting that China's foreign trade remains competitive globally thanks to the country's complete industrial system and constant improvements in its foreign trade structure and quality. "In addition, there are signs that global electronics product demand is recovering."

Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, stressed on Wednesday that China's economic fundamentals and favorable conditions such as a huge market, strong economic resilience and great potential have remained unchanged.

Also, the recently announced and implemented stimulus policy package has received positive feedback from both home and abroad. It has vigorously boosted social confidence, the governor said.