Customs officers check the export declaration of the first China–Laos–Thailand round-trip freight train, before it departs from Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Feb. 7, 2023. [Photo by Liu Ranyang/China News Service]

China's foreign trade has gotten off to a good start this year, with an upbeat trend to follow, a customs official said on March 20, 2023.

The number of containers for export has been rising since late February, Yu Jianhua, head of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), told a press conference, addressing concerns over trade triggered by recent reports of empty containers piled at Chinese ports.