BEIJING - China's foreign trade rose 2.7 percent year-on-year to $308.08 billion in April, with a surplus of $18.42 billion, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said Thursday.

The growth rate represents a slowdown from the 7.1-percent rate logged in March.

Exports amounted to $163.25 billion in April, up 4.9 percent year-on-year, while imports edged up 0.3 percent to reach $144.83 billion, the GAC data showed.

For the first four months of the year, the country's foreign trade went up 6 percent from a year earlier to $1.17 trillion, with exports and imports up 6.9 percent and 5.1 percent to $593.24 billion and $573.94 billion, respectively.

China saw trade surplus of $19.3 billion during the January-April period, the GAC said.