China's foreign trade is anticipated to maintain an upward trend in the first half of 2024, laying a solid foundation and creating favorable conditions to achieve the annual goal of improving quality while keeping volume stable, said the minister of the General Administration of Customs.

During his meeting with the media at the "Ministers' Passage" following the closing meeting of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday, Yu Jianhua, minister of the administration, said that since the start of this year, China's import and export activities have maintained an upward trend.

The value of China's foreign trade surged to 6.6 trillion yuan ($918.6 billion) during the January-February period, setting a new historical record for the same period, the GAC data showed.

Yu said that in the meantime, the quality and value of foreign trade had been consistently on the rise. The rate of growth in imports and exports to economies involved in the Belt and Road Initiative exceeded the overall growth rate, while emerging trends and formats in foreign trade, such as cross-border e-commerce and market procurement, are gaining strong momentum.

"Looking at the trends, favorable factors are accumulating," he added.

Yu mentioned that, in addition to strengthening policies and introducing more targeted measures to boost border trade this year, the administration will continue to monitor, collect data, and analyze foreign trade conditions, as well as conduct surveys on economic indicators to help exporters secure orders.