(Yicai) April 12 -- China’s imports and exports will rise this quarter and maintain a growth trend in the first half, according to a vice minister of customs administration.

In the first quarter, foreign trade increased by 5 percent to CNY10.17 trillion from a year ago, hitting a new high in the past six quarters, Wang Lingjun said during a press briefing today. Exports tallied CNY5.74 trillion, up 5 percent year-over-year, and imports totaled CNY4.43 trillion, a similar increase.

In US dollars, foreign trade during the three months tallied USD1.43 trillion, containing USD807.5 billion in exports and USD623.8 billion in imports, as both figures rose by almost 2 percent.

Preliminary calculations show that China’s cross-border e-commerce business contributed CNY577.6 billion (USD79.8 billion) to foreign trade, up by 10 percent YoY, Lv Daliang, spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs of China, said during the briefing. Exports and imports amounted to CNY448 billion and CNY129.6 billion, respectively.

Next, the GACC will work with other administrations to focus on issues in regulating cross-border e-commerce to improve innovation regarding systems, management, and services to spur high-quality development while making better products available to buyers at home and abroad, Lv added.

Editor: Emmi Laine