China's goods trade maintained steady growth in the first 10 months of the year, with the total value of imports and exports reaching 37.31 trillion yuan ($5.24 trillion), up 3.6 percent year-on-year, demonstrating strong resilience amid external headwinds, the General Administration of Customs said on Friday.

From January to October, exports reached 22.12 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.2 percent year-on-year, while imports totaled 15.19 trillion yuan, roughly flat when compared to the same period last year.

"China's foreign trade in imports and exports has sustained growth for nine consecutive months, an achievement that has not come easily amid external headwinds," said Lyu Daliang, director of the General Administration of Customs' department of statistics and analysis.

In October alone, the total value of China's goods trade reached 3.7 trillion yuan, edging up 0.1 percent on a yearly basis. Specifically, exports stood at 2.17 trillion yuan, down 0.8 percent year-on-year, while imports reached 1.53 trillion yuan, up 1.4 percent year-on-year, marking five consecutive months of growth, according to Customs data.

In the first 10 months, imports and exports of both general trade and processing trade posted growth. Notably, trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union expanded.

China's trade with ASEAN, its largest trading partner, hit 6.18 trillion yuan, a 9.1 percent increase year-on-year, and accounted for 16.6 percent of the country's total foreign trade value.

The EU remains China's second-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade amounting to 4.88 trillion yuan, a 4.9 percent year-on-year increase, and accounting for 13.1 percent of China's total foreign trade. Meanwhile, China's imports and exports to partner countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative reached 19.28 trillion yuan, growing 5.9 percent year-on-year.

The United States ranked third, with trade between the two economies reaching 3.38 trillion yuan, down 15.9 percent year-on-year and accounting for 9 percent of the country's total foreign trade value, Customs data show.

Zhejiang Zhonghuan Sunter PV Technology Co Ltd, a national-level high-tech enterprise based in Zhejiang province, specializing in the research and development, production and sales of solar photovoltaic modules, has delivered robust business performance this year amid a complex international market environment.

The company's export value amounted to 812 million yuan in the first 10 months, growing 39.52 percent year-on-year, according to Ningbo Customs.

"As the global energy transition accelerates, we are fully confident in the future economic recovery and the development of the new energy sector. We remain optimistic about the foreign trade market, and will further boost R&D investment to enhance the global competitiveness of our products," said Cen Tingchao, foreign trade director of the company.

zhuwenqian@chinadaily.com.cn