BEIJING, July 15 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign trade continued to recover in the first half of 2025, with imports returning to positive growth in June, as the world's second-largest economy showed resilience despite global economic uncertainties.

The country's total imports and exports of goods in yuan-denominated terms rose at a pace of 2.9 percent during the January-June period to 21.79 trillion yuan (about 3.05 trillion U.S. dollars), a record high for the period, data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed on Monday.

The growth rate accelerated from a rise of 2.5 percent registered in the first five months of the year.

Describing the first-half foreign trade performance as "hard-won," GAC deputy head Wang Lingjun told a press conference that China still faces growing global unilateralism and protectionism, which have increased the complexity and uncertainty of the external environment. He stressed that "arduous efforts" are needed to stabilize foreign trade growth in the second half of the year.

A breakdown of the data showed that China's exports rose 7.2 percent year on year during the first half of the year, while imports fell 2.7 percent, according to the GAC data.

In June alone, the country's exports climbed 7.2 percent from a year earlier, while imports gained 2.3 percent, reversing from a decline of 2.1 percent posted in May.

Monday's data also showed continued structural improvements in China's foreign trade.

High-tech product exports maintained strong growth in the first half of the year, rising 9.2 percent year on year. Notably, Chinese brands accounted for a larger share of the total, reaching 32.4 percent.

In terms of trading partners, trade between China and ASEAN totaled 3.67 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.6 percent. China's trade with the European Union went up 3.5 percent year on year to 2.82 trillion yuan, while its trade with the United States decreased by 9.3 percent year on year to 2.08 trillion yuan, according to the data.

China's trade with Belt and Road partner countries rose 4.7 percent to 11.29 trillion yuan, and trade with African countries increased 14.4 percent to 1.18 trillion yuan during the period.

Wang noted that China has the strength, confidence and capability to overcome various risks and challenges, citing its diversified and stable markets, innovative and competitive products, and resilient exporters as key buffers against external risks.

The foreign trade data were released one day ahead of the country's other key economic indicators for the first half of the year, including GDP, retail sales, industrial production and fixed-asset investment.

China's economy expanded 5.4 percent year on year in the first quarter of the year, compared with an annual growth of 5 percent in 2024. The country has set its full-year growth target at around 5 percent for this year.