China's exports rose 22.9 percent in October from a year earlier, while imports increased 25.3 percent, the General Administration of Customs said Wednesday.

China's trade surplus expanded to 27.1 billion U.S. dollars last month, compared with 16.88 billion U.S. dollars in September, making the October figures the second highest this year after July's 28.73 billion U.S. dollars.

Exports and imports totaled 244.81 billion U.S. dollars last month, a Customs spokesman said.

In the first 10 months, the country's trade surplus totaled 147.77 billion U.S. dollars, down 6.7 percent compared with the same period last year.