China's exports growth gained pace in June as production continued to recover from the pandemic, while imports expanded moderately, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said on Wednesday.

The June exports grew by 17.9 percent year on year in U.S. dollar terms, 1 percentage point higher than the previous month, GAC data shows, beating Reuters' forecast of 12 percent.

However, the import growth slowed down to 1 percent from 4.1 percent in May, missing market expectations.

"The growth of foreign trade picked up significantly in May and June," said GAC spokesperson Li Kuiwen.

Since March, a new wave of COVID-19 spreading across China slowed down business activities and production, as many places, including the capital Beijing and financial center Shanghai, implemented different degrees of closed-off management.

The easing of pandemic and the government's policy measures have helped foreign trade companies resume work and production since May in an orderly manner, said Li.

Regarding the first half of 2022, China's exports climbed by 14.2 percent from a year earlier and imports rose by 5.7 percent.

The value of exports stood at $1.73 trillion during the six-month period, while imports came in at $1.35 trillion.

The rapid recovery of imports and exports in east China's Yangtze River Delta, where Shanghai is located, has led to a rebound in China's overall foreign trade growth, Li said.

Plus, the expansion demonstrates China's ability to maintain growth and vitality among major trading partners, the spokesperson said.

From January to June, China's trade with its top three trading partners, ASEAN, EU and the U.S., saw year-on-year increases of 11.5 percent, 8.4 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively, per the GAC data.

Meanwhile, China's exports of labor-intensive products jumped by 13.5 percent in yuan terms, compared with the same period last year, while imports of energy products, including crude oil, natural gas and coal, hiked by 53.1 percent, according to Li.

China is due to release its second-quarter GDP growth rate on Friday. In the first three months, the country's economy grew by 4.8 percent from a year earlier, slightly lower than its 5.5-percent growth target for 2022, but 0.8 percentage point faster quarter on quarter.

(Graphics by Yu Peng, edited by Wang Tianyu)