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Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours

China's foreign trade has maintained a growth trend in the first seven months of this year, with total imports and exports reaching CNY25.7 trillion, up 3.5 percent year-on-year.

The growth rate accelerated by 0.6 percentage points compared with the first half of the year, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Thursday.

Of the total, exports reached CNY15.31 trillion, up 7.3 percent. While imports declined by 1.6 percent to CNY10.39 trillion, the decline narrowed by 1.1 percentage points compared with the first half of the year.

In July alone, China’s exports expanded 7.2 percent, while imports jumped 4.1 percent compared to a year ago, beating market forecasts. The country's trade value grew by 6.7 percent to CNY3.91 trillion last month, customs data showed.

Notable data include mechanical and electrical products trade, which now accounts for 60 percent of exports, with exports of automatic data processing equipment and parts, integrated circuits and automobiles all growing, highlighting the initial results of China's efforts to promote new quality productive forces.

Looking at the data by country and region, ASEAN remained to be China's largest trading partner, with total trade reaching 4.29 trillion yuan, up 9.4 percent, accounting for 16.7 percent of China's total foreign trade.

The EU was China's second-largest trading partner, with trade totaling CNY3.35 trillion, up 3.9 percent, making up 13 percent of total trade.The US ranked third, with trade amounting to CNY2.42 trillion, down 11.1 percent, accounting for 9.4 percent of the total.

During the same period, China's total imports and exports with countries in joint construction of the Belt and Road reached CNY13.29 trillion, an increase of 5.5 percent.

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