A man from the Republic of Ghana recommends a hand drum to visitors during the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, June 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge)

BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- China's trade with Africa saw a mild increase in the first five months this year, official data showed.

China-Africa trade volume stood at 84.76 billion U.S. dollars during the period, up 3 percent year on year, as compared with a drop of 1.6 percent in China's overall foreign trade in U.S. dollar terms during the period, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

In breakdown, China's exports rose 6.3 percent year on year to hit 43.57 billion U.S. dollars from January to May, while imports from Africa declined 0.3 percent to 41.19 billion U.S. dollars, leading to a surplus of 2.38 billion U.S. dollars.

In May, China-Africa trade expanded 1.7 percent to 18.67 billion U.S. dollars, with China seeing a surplus of 1.89 billion U.S. dollars, said the GAC.

China's exports in the month stood at 10.28 billion U.S. dollars, up 8.7 percent year on year while the imports totaled 8.39 billion U.S. dollars, down 6 percent than a year earlier.

In 2018, China-Africa trade reached 204.2 billion U.S. dollars, up 20 percent year on year, and China has been Africa's largest trading partner for 10 straight years.