The first phase of the China-US trade agreement is beneficial to China, the United States and the whole world, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

Ministry spokesman Gao Feng made the remarks at a weekly news conference when asked to comment on the implementation of the trade deal, after China saw its imports of US agricultural products surge 120.8 percent on a yearly basis to 136.01 billion yuan ($21.04 billion) in the first half of 2021.

In the meantime, China imported 15.3 million metric tons of corn from the US, soaring 318.5 percent year-on-year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

The official said the two sides should work together to create the atmosphere and conditions to advance the implementation of the phase-one economic and trade deal.