BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The growth in China's foreign trade of goods rebounded strongly after the week-long Spring Festival, a senior customs official told Xinhua Saturday.

Imports and exports surged 21 percent year on year from mid-February, said Ni Yuefeng, head of the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

In the first eight days of March, the country's foreign trade soared 24.7 percent year on year, with exports rising nearly 40 percent.

Historical data show that it's a normal phenomenon to have fluctuations in monthly statistics for the month with the Spring Festival, said Ni. "Judging from the recent upward trend, we are very confident about China's foreign trade growth in the future."

His comment came as GAC announced Friday that China's foreign trade fell 9.4 percent year on year last month to 1.81 trillion yuan (about 270 billion U.S. dollars), raising concerns about a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

Analysts cautioned it was difficult to compare trends in China's data at the start of the year due to the Spring Festival holiday, which came in early February this year and could affect business activity.

Deducting the Spring Festival factor, China's foreign trade rose 10.2 percent year on year in February, with exports increasing 7.8 percent and imports rising 12.9 percent, respectively.