BEIJING — China's total imports and exports expanded 22 percent year-on-year to 35.39 trillion yuan ($5.55 trillion) in the first 11 months of 2021, official data showed on Dec 7.

The figure, already surpassing the 32.16-trillion-yuan total for all of 2020, marked a 24-percent increase from the pre-epidemic level in 2019, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Both exports and imports continued double-digit growth in the first 11 months of the year, surging 21.8 percent and 22.2 percent from a year earlier, respectively.

In the Jan-Nov period, China's trade with its top three trading partners — the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union and the United States — maintained sound growth.

During the period, the growth rates of China's trade value with the three trading partners stood at 20.6 percent, 20 percent and 21.1 percent, respectively, customs data showed.

Private enterprises saw the fastest growth rate in imports and exports by increasing 27.8 percent to 17.15 trillion yuan in the first 11 months, accounting for 48.5 percent of the country's total.

The imports and exports of foreign-invested firms and that of state-owned enterprises rose 13.1 percent and 27.3 percent, respectively, in the period.

In November alone, the country's imports and exports rose 20.5 percent year-on-year to 3.72 trillion yuan, up 11.4 percent from that in October, the data showed.