China's imports of iron ore and crude oil reached record highs in July on the back of strong domestic demand, even as overall trade showed a steeper decline compared to the same period last year.

As imports are likely to grow and commodity prices expected to rise further, China's growing appetite for overseas goods will considerably benefit resource-rich regions such as Latin America, Africa and Australia, experts said.

The decline in imports for July was much smaller than exports - 8.1 percentage points lower - as demand for resource-related commodities picked up rapidly. Oil imports climbed by 18 percent to 19.6 million tons from a month ago, and iron ore also rose by 5 percent to 58.1 million tons. China spent a combined $13.8 billion on the two commodities, 15 percent of the total imports.