China's foreign trade volume jumped 9.9 percent year-on-year to 22.28 trillion yuan in the first three quarters of this year, data from the General Administration of Customs show.
The country's export volume stood at 11.86 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.5 percent, in the first nine months, while import volume surged 14.1 percent year-on-year to 10.42 trillion yuan.
In the meantime, the country's trade surplus reached 1.44 trillion yuan, shrinking by 28.3 percent on a year-on-year basis.
The import of major bulk commodities increase in both volume and price in the first three quarters of this year.
Foreign shipments to China of crude oil, natural gas, refined oil and copper hit 336 million tons, 64.78 million tons, 24.59 million tons and 3.99 million tons between January and September of 2018, up 5.9 percent, 34 percent, 9.8 percent and 16.1 percent year-on-year respectively.
Imports of iron ore and soybeans dropped by 1.6 percent and 2 percent year-on-year to 803 million tons and 70.01 million tons, respectively.
