BEIJING, July 12 -- China's foreign trade reached a new high in the first half (H1) of this year, providing more momentum for the economic recovery, official data showed Friday.

The goods trade volume expanded 6.1 percent year on year to 21.17 trillion yuan (about 2.97 trillion U.S. dollars) in the January-June period, according to the General Administration of Customs. Exports rose 6.9 percent, while imports climbed 5.2 percent.

The positive trend of foreign trade has been further consolidated, analysts said.

In the second quarter, the imports and exports in total gained 7.4 percent compared to a year earlier, also notably higher than the 4.9 percent increase in the first quarter of this year and 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.