KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's exports rose 18.4 percent to 95.59 billion ringgit (22.85 billion U.S. dollars) in August from a year earlier, as exports to all major markets namely ASEAN, China, the U.S., the European Union (EU), and Japan recorded positive growth, official data showed Tuesday.

The export growth was contributed mainly by robust external demand for petroleum products, electrical and electronic products mainly due to higher shipments of semiconductors as well as chemicals and chemical products, the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, total trade increased by 15.7 percent to 169.79 billion ringgit in August. Imports expanded by 12.5 percent to 74.2 billion ringgit while trade surplus was up by 44.7 percent to 21.39 billion ringgit.

For the first eight months of 2021, Malaysia's trade expanded by 22.9 percent to 1.41 trillion from the same period last year.

Exports for the period grew by 24.9 percent to 778.49 billion ringgit; imports rose by 20.4 percent to 628.29 billion ringgit; trade surplus surged by 48.2 percent to 150.2 billion ringgit.

In August, Malaysia's trade with China recorded a growth of 14.3 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 32.17 billion ringgit, the ninth consecutive month of double-digit expansion, which represented 18.9 percent of Malaysia's total trade.

Malaysia's exports to China improved by 5.7 percent to 15.19 billion ringgit following higher exports of liquefied natural gas as well as chemicals and chemical products.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's imports from China for the month rose by 23.4 percent to 16.99 billion ringgit.

For the first eight months, Malaysia's trade with China grew 27.8 percent y-o-y to 265.65 billion ringgit.

Malaysia's exports to China for the period edged up by 19 percent y-o-y to 118.48 billion ringgit on the back of higher exports of E&E products, LNG, manufacturing metal parts, as well as chemicals and chemical products.

Malaysia's imports from China for the period also rose by 35.8 percent y-o-y to 147.16 billion ringgit. (1 U.S. dollar = 4.19 Malaysian ringgit)