BEIJING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's imports surged 26.3 percent year on year in October, while exports rose 20.1 percent, with the pace of growth both beating expectations, data showed Thursday.

The increases also accelerated from the 17.4-percent growth for imports seen in September and a rise of 17 percent for exports.

Trade surplus stood at 233.63 billion yuan (about 33.76 billion U.S. dollars) last month, expanding from 213.23 billion yuan in September, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

For the first 10 months of the year, China's foreign trade totaled 25.05 trillion yuan, up 11.3 percent from the same period last year.

Foreign trade with the European Union, the country's biggest trade partner, climbed 8.4 percent year on year to 3.68 trillion yuan for January-October, GAC data showed.

In the same period, trade with the United States, China's second-biggest trade partner, rose 7.4 percent to 3.44 trillion yuan, followed by the ASEAN, its third-largest trade partner, at 3.18 trillion yuan or 13.7 percent.

In U.S. dollar-denominated terms, China's exports increased 15.6 percent year on year in October, while imports were up 21.4 percent.