BEIJING (AFP) ― China’s trade surplus expanded by a larger-than-expected 42.9 percent year-on-year in June as demand for imports weakened in the world’s second-biggest economy, official data showed Tuesday.

However the government said the export numbers had also been boosted by stronger demand in emerging markets, which helped offset stagnation in the European and Japanese economies.

Exports for June were $180.21 billion, up 11.3 percent year-on-year, while imports rose 6.3 percent to reach $148.48 billion, the General Administration of Customs said in a statement.

This brought the surplus for June to $31.73 billion, up 42.9 percent year-on-year, the statement said.

This lifted the surplus for the first half to $68.92 billion, up 56.4 from the same period a year earlier.

“While exports increased at a low level, growth of imports was sharply slower than exports as domestic demand declined due to China’s slowing economy,” customs spokesman Zheng Yuesheng told reporters.

China’s leaders have already moved to revive growth, raising interest rates twice since the beginning of June.

Premier Wen Jiabao over the weekend flagged further measures, and the weak import numbers are the latest in a series of data released recently to fuel expectations the government will act quickly.

The government reported on Monday that China’s inflation rate slowed to 2.2 percent in June, the lowest level since the beginning of 2010.

China’s economy expanded an annual 8.1 percent in the first quarter of 2012, its slowest pace in nearly three years.

Analysts are expecting growth continued to slow in the second quarter, prompting more government action. The government is scheduled to release the gross domestic product for the second quarter on Friday.

“China will definitely continue to introduce monetary easing policies,” said Citic Bank International’s chief economist, Liao Qun.

“There may be one interest rate cut and two cuts in the banks’ reserve requirement ratio in the second half.”

The reserve requirement ratio is the amount of money that banks must hold in reserve. Lowering the ratio injects more cash into the economy.

The customs administration’s Zheng said that China still expected to achieve its goal of 10-percent growth in both imports and exports this year if the financial crisis in Europe did not worsen.

He attributed this partly to a diversification strategy to emerging markets.

“Trade growth almost stagnated with the EU, Japan and other traditional markets, but steadily grew with emerging markets,” Zheng told reporters.

Exports for the first six months of the year climbed 9.2 percent to $954.38 billion, while imports rose 6.7 percent to $885.46 billion, according to the statement.