China's foreign trade surged 7.9 percent year-on-year to 14.12 trillion yuan ($2.12 trillion) in the first half of 2018, despite challenges to the world's multilateral trading system by protectionist policies by the United States.

The country's exports grew by 4.9 percent year-on-year to 7.51 trillion yuan from January to June of 2018, while imports amounted to 6.61 trillion yuan, up 11.5 percent from the same period a year earlier, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

GAC spokesman Huang Songping said the growth of China's foreign trade benefited from the global economy's recovery, the country's efforts to optimize its industrial structure and new measures for opening-up in both trade and investment.

The trade volume between China and the US grew 5.2 percent year-on-year to 1.93 trillion yuan in the first six months of 2018, accounting for 17.7 percent of China's foreign trade.

China will closely watch the effects of the US' tariff measures, as this will affect bilateral trade and the global economy.