China's foreign trade expanded 8.7 percent year-on-year to 6.61 trillion yuan ($847.4 billion) in the first two months of 2024, official data showed on Thursday.

The country's exports grew by 10.3 percent year-on-year to 3.75 trillion yuan for the January-February period, while imports increased 6.7 percent from a year earlier to 2.86 trillion yuan, statistics from the General Administration of Customs showed.

In the meantime, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations remained China's largest trade partner. China's trade with ASEAN countries rose 8.1 percent year-on-year to 993.24 billion yuan, accounting for 15 percent of the country's total trade value.

From January to February, China's trade with the European Union declined 1.3 percent from a year earlier, while its imports and exports with the United States grew by 3.7 percent on a yearly basis.

The import and export volume of China's private businesses reached 3.61 trillion yuan in the first two months of this year, surging by 17.7 percent on a yearly basis, and accounting for 54.6 percent of the nation's total foreign trade value.