BEIJING, July 26 -- More than 32.4 billion inter-regional trips were made in China during the first half (H1) of this year, up 7.4 percent from one year earlier, data from the Ministry of Transport showed on Friday.

The country's transport sector has generally been stable and has continued to recover during the January-June period, the ministry said in a statement published on its website.

It said the country's cargo throughput at ports climbed 4.6 percent year on year to 8.56 billion tonnes during the period. Specifically, foreign trade cargo throughput at ports rose 8.8 percent over the previous year.

During the period, the country's ports handled 160 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers, climbing 8.5 percent year on year.

The country's fixed-asset investment in the transport sector amounted to 1.7 trillion yuan (about 238.53 billion U.S. dollars) during the January-June period.

The transport sector indicators came after official data showed that the country's economy rose 5 percent year on year in H1, maintaining stable expansion despite rising challenges from home and abroad.