China's total foreign trade reached 29.57 trillion yuan ($4.12 trillion) in the first eight months of this year, up by 3.5 percent year on year, according to data released by Chinese customs on Monday.

During the period, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations remained China's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade valued at 4.93 trillion yuan, up 9.7 percent year on year, accounting for 16.7 percent of China's total foreign trade. The European Union was the second largest, with trade valued at 3.88 trillion yuan, up 4.3 percent year on year. The US was the third largest, with bilateral trade valued at 2.73 trillion yuan, down 13.5 percent year on year.

In the same period, imports and exports to Belt and Road partner countries stood at 15.3 trillion yuan, up by 5.4 percent, accounting for more than half of China's foreign trade.

In terms of export categories, high-tech industries saw significant growth. In the first eight months, exports of mechanical and electrical products amounted to 10.6 trillion yuan, up 9.2 percent year on year, accounting for 60.2 percent of China's total exports. Among them, integrated circuits increased by 23.3 percent, automobiles rose by 11.9 percent, and automatic data processing equipment and its parts up by 0.6 percent,