Ships park at a container terminal at the fourth phase project of the Taicang Port in East China's Jiangsu Province, on July 9, 2024. Photo: VCG

Trade between China and the US, China's third-largest trading partner, reached 4.01 trillion yuan ($561 billion) in the first ten months of this year, up by 4.4 percent year-on-year. This growth rate is also higher than the 4.2 percent level recorded for the first three quarters, according to data released by China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Thursday.

In the first ten months, China's exports to the US totaled 3.04 trillion yuan, a 4.9 percent rise, while imports from the US amounted to 969.48 billion yuan, up by 2.9 percent, according to the data.

Experts said that the steady growth in trade between the world's two largest economies signifies the long-term resilience of bilateral economic and trade cooperation and the potential for mutually beneficial outcomes, even in the face of rising trade friction. 

The trade figures are part of broader data showing China's robust foreign trade performance. For the first ten months of the year, the country's total goods trade amounted to 36.02 trillion yuan, up by 5.2 percent year-on-year, the GAC revealed on Thursday, saying this underscores a trend of stable trade growth for China and continuous optimization of trade structures.

The uptick in China-US trade volume can be partially attributed to the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays, which have increased demand for Chinese products in Western markets, Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"The sustained growth is rooted in the highly complementary nature of the two countries' industrial structures, showing resilience in the countries' industrial cooperation," Gao noted.

The 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE), which is being held in Shanghai from Tuesday to Sunday, features a section dedicated to US food and agriculture companies. The section first opened last year, and is intended to help the companies explore the Chinese market, according to Xinhua.

This year, the section attracted 14 participants. Within the first hour after opening, the total turnover hit $600 million, Xinhua reported, citing data from the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai (AmCham Shanghai).

China is willing to strengthen communication, expand cooperation and resolve differences with the US for sound and sustainable development of bilateral economic and trade relations, a spokesperson with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Thursday, Xinhua reported.