Photo: Xinhua

China's exports rose 6.1 percent in yuan terms during the first six months of the year, showing resilience amid an austere external environment, an official at the General Administration of Customs (GAC) told a press conference on Friday.

Overall, China's foreign trade edged up 3.9 percent year-on-year to 14.67 trillion yuan ($2.13 trillion) during the Jan-Jun period, GAC data showed.  

The value of imports inched up 1.4 percent to 6.72 trillion yuan.  The country's trade surplus widened by 41.6 percent year-on-year to 1.23 trillion yuan in the first six months. 

Export growth in the first half was slower than the first quarter, when exports rose by 6.7 percent year-on-year.

"Due to an austere and complex external environment, China's foreign trade faces a series of challenges," said Li Kuiwen, director of the GAC's statistics and analysis department. "However, the long-term positive outlook of China's foreign trade remains unchanged."

China's foreign trade with countries and regions along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative grew by 9.7 percent during the period year-on-year, becoming a new driver for foreign trade, according to the GAC.

As the trade war bites, the US' importance as a trade partner has steadily declined. China-US trade was down 9 percent to 1.75 trillion yuan from January to June, with trade with the US accounting for 12 percent of China's total foreign trade. In 2017, the figure was 20 percent.