BEIJING — Cargo throughput at China's ports posted accelerated growth in August as the country's foreign trade sustained its growth momentum, data from the Ministry of Transport shows.

In August, China's ports handled 1.35 billion metric tons of cargo, up 4.9 percent year-on-year, according to the ministry. The growth rate accelerated 3.9 percentage points from that seen in July.

The country's container throughput at ports in August increased 3 percent from a year ago to 24.78 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the ministry said.

From January to August, cargo throughput at China's ports totaled 10.26 billion tons, while container throughput reached 190 million TEUs, the data shows.