BEIJING, June 9 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign trade maintained steady growth momentum in May, underscoring the resilience of the wider economy and its deepening integration with global markets.

The total value of goods imports and exports in yuan-denominated terms grew 16.9 percent year on year to reach 4.45 trillion yuan (about 653 billion U.S. dollars) last month, remaining above 4 trillion yuan for three consecutive months, data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed Tuesday.

Exports rose 13.8 percent from the same period last year, while imports increased 21.5 percent, the GAC data showed. In the first five months of the year, total foreign trade amounted to 20.68 trillion yuan, up 15.3 percent year on year.

Lyu Daliang, director of GAC's Department of Statistics and Analysis, said the foreign trade has maintained sound momentum this year. "China is actively deepening practical cooperation with global trade partners, injecting a stabilizing force into international trade."

Tuesday's data showed China's trade ties with major trading partners remained robust. In the first five months, trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gained 16.6 percent year on year, while trade with the European Union climbed 10.3 percent, and trade with Belt and Road countries rose 13.6 percent. Meanwhile, trade with the United States declined by 6.6 percent.

"Emerging markets are becoming a new engine of growth for China's foreign trade," said Chen Xi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research under the National Development and Reform Commission.

Chen added that the country's pursuit of high-standard opening up, including the Belt and Road cooperation and the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), has improved trade connectivity and facilitated cross-border business.

In May, China began implementing an expanded zero-tariff treatment on imports from all 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations.

As a result, Chinese imports from Africa reached 95.13 billion yuan last month, up 15 percent year on year. In the first five months of the year, China-Africa trade surpassed the 1-trillion-yuan mark for the first time on record for the period.

Consumer choice in China continues to grow as the country's market opens further, with products ranging from tropical fruits and coffee beans to handicrafts from Belt and Road countries.

"As China's economy continues to advance and people's living standards further improve, the country's expanding imports will create broader market opportunities for the rest of the world," said Liao Zhengrong, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Beyond the expansion in trade volume, China's foreign trade is also undergoing a structural transformation -- shifting from traditional labor-intensive goods toward higher-value, tech-intensive products such as electric vehicles and solar panels.

Mechanical and electrical products now account for more than 60 percent of China's exports, with significantly higher value added. Exports of these products grew 18.4 percent in the first five months, while imports rose 25.3 percent. Labor-intensive product exports, by contrast, fell 3.1 percent year on year during the period.

The strong growth of mechanical and electrical products reflects China's extensive links with both upstream and downstream industries worldwide, creating better conditions for coordination across global supply chain networks, said Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce.

China's integration into global industrial chains has continued to deepen, further strengthening its competitive advantages, Liao said.

Despite mounting pressures on international industrial and supply chains amid global volatility, China's commitment to high-standard opening up, coupled with its complete industrial system and improving quality of products and services, has helped sustain relatively high foreign trade growth and inject stability and certainty into the global economy, experts said.