China's trade surplus reached 24.97 billion U.S. dollars in August, which represented a 33 percent increase from year-ago levels. The January through July cumulative trade surplus increased 71 percent to 161.76 billion U.S. dollars. August exports increased 31.3 percent to a total of 23 billion U.S. dollars, while imports grew 21.8 percent to 10.2 billion U.S. dollars. Europe was the largest trading partner, with the U.S. as the second largest market.