BEIJING, March 7 -- China's total import and export of goods expanded 8.7 percent year on year in yuan terms in the first two months of 2024, official data showed Thursday.

From January to February, the country's foreign trade in goods stood at 6.61 trillion yuan (about 930.96 billion U.S. dollars), according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

Exports grew 10.3 percent year on year to 3.75 trillion yuan, while imports rose 6.7 percent from the same period of 2023 to 2.86 trillion yuan, the data showed.

In the first two months, the country's trade in goods continued the upward momentum of the fourth quarter of last year, registering a year-on-year growth for the fifth consecutive month, GAC official Lyu Daliang said, adding that the imports and exports during the period have hit a historic high.

Private businesses have played a bigger role in fueling the growth of foreign trade in goods, according to the data. During the period, the trade value of private enterprises took up 54.6 percent of the total, up 4.2 percentage points from the same period in 2023, while that of the foreign-invested enterprises constituted 29 percent.

Thursday's data also revealed an uptick in China's imports and exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States.

In the first two months, China's trade with its largest trade partner, ASEAN, rose 8.1 percent year on year to 993.24 billion yuan, accounting for 15 percent of the country's total trade value.

The country's trade in goods with its third-largest trade partner, the United States, grew 3.7 percent to 707.7 billion yuan during the period, while that with the European Union, its second-largest trade partner, edged down 1.3 percent year on year.

Other highlights of China's trade in goods during the January-February period include a robust increase in exports of machinery and electronic products, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the country's total exports during the period.

Specifically, the export value of automatic data processing equipment, integrated circuits and vehicles, surged 7.3 percent, 28.6 percent and 15.8 percent, respectively, during the period, the data showed.