China's total imports and exports expanded 7.9 percent year on year to 12.58 trillion yuan in the first four months of 2022, official data showed Monday.

In U.S. dollar terms, total foreign trade came in at 1.98 trillion U.S. dollars in the period, up 10.1 percent year on year, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Exports grew 10.3 percent year on year to 6.97 trillion yuan, while imports rose 5 percent to 5.61 trillion yuan in the January-April period, leading to a trade surplus of 1.36 trillion yuan, the data showed.

In April alone, the country's foreign trade volume edged up 0.1 percent year on year to 3.16 trillion yuan, with the exports up 1.9 percent year on year while imports dropping by 2 percent from a year ago.