Workers pack oranges on conveyors inside a packhouse located in Beheira Province, Egypt, on Jan. 18, 2018. Thanks to the fast-growing demand in China for quality fruits, Egypt has witnessed a rapid increase in its citrus exports to China in the past years, which has led many Egyptian citrus farms to prosper. China's foreign trade rose 9.7 percent year on year to a historic high of 30.51 trillion yuan (about 4.5 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2018, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said Monday. Exports rose 7.1 percent year on year to 16.42 trillion yuan last year, while imports grew 12.9 percent to 14.09 trillion yuan, resulting in a trade surplus of 2.33 trillion yuan, which narrowed by 18.3 percent. Exports and imports of products under the general trade category surged 12.5 percent year on year to 17.64 trillion yuan, accounting for 57.8 percent of the total foreign trade, 1.4 percentage points higher than 2017. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe)