BEIJING, May 30 -- China's container throughput at its ports rose 9 percent year on year in the first four months of this year amid foreign trade expansion, official data showed.

A total of 104.03 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers were handled at China's ports during the period, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The country's cargo throughput at ports totaled 5.55 billion tonnes in the same period, marking a year-on-year increase of 5.2 percent.

Specifically, foreign trade cargo throughput rose 9.1 percent from the same period last year, according to the data.

China's total goods imports and exports expanded 5.7 percent year on year in yuan terms in the first four months of this year, stronger than the 5 percent recorded in the first quarter, earlier data showed.