China's trade surplus hit a record 14.6 billion U.S dollars in July, up by 40.6 percent over July last year, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) announced on Thursday.

Exports rose 22.6 percent over July last year to 80.34 billion dollars, and imports increased 19.7 percent to 65.72 billion dollars.

China posted a trade surplus of 75.95 billion U.S. dollars in the first seven months, up 51.9 percent over the same period last year. Exports rose 24.8 percent to 508.9 billion dollars while imports reached 432.95 billion dollars, an increase of 21.1 percent.

The European Union remains China's top trading partner with bilateral trade in the first seven months growing 21.1 percent over the same period last year to 143.5 billion U.S. dollars.

The United States is China's second largest trading partner with the trade reaching 142.16 billion dollars. Japan is third at 112.94 billion dollars from January to July.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) remains China's fourth largest trading partner with trade up to 86.11 billion U.S. dollars.

Source: Xinhua