CHANGCHUN -- The foreign trade of Northeast China's Jilin province rose 30.2 percent year-on-year to 79.1 billion yuan (about $12.2 billion) in the first half of the year, the best performance in history, official data showed Thursday.

The growth rate is 3.1 percentage points higher than the national average, said the Jilin commerce department.

Exports reached 16.87 billion yuan, up 21.5 percent year-on-year, and imports rose to 62.23 billion yuan, an increase of 32.8 percent year-on-year.

During the Jan-June period, the inbound and outbound cargo volumes at the ports in Jilin exceeded 1.85 million tons, up 17 percent year-on-year, and local goods accounted for over 50 percent of the cargo transported via the China-Europe freight trains through the province.

The recovering global demand contributed to the province's rapid growth in foreign trade, and local companies have sought opportunities to expand their overseas markets, said Zhang Guigang, an official with the department.