BEIJING, Jan. 13-- China's exports rose 6.1 percent year on year in 2014, while imports increased 0.4 percent, customs data showed on Tuesday.

Last year, the country's total export and import values increased 3.4 percent year on year, said Zheng Yuesheng, spokesman for the General Administration of Customs (GAC). He didn't release the dollar totals.

Exports increased 4.9 percent to 14.3 trillion yuan in 2014, while imports fell 0.6 percent to 12.04 trillion yuan in 2014. The foreign trade surplus widened to 2.35 trillion yuan in 2014, an increase of 45.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the GAC.

In December 2014, China's foreign trade value hit 2.49 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.2 percent from a year earlier.

The leading export index slid for the third month to 40.1 in December 2014, the lowest since December 2013, signalling a more pessimistic picture for exports in the first quarter of 2015, the GAC data showed.

A slowing recovery of global economy, weak domestic investment and demand, and falling commodity prices are the major reasons behind the weak foreign trade growth in 2014, said Zheng Yuesheng.

Meanwhile, trade with the European Union, China's biggest trade partner, edged up 8.9 percent year on year to 3.78 trillion yuan in 2014, while trade with the United States, China's second-biggest trade partner, rose 5.4 percent year on year to 3.41 trillion yuan in 2014.

China's trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, its third-largest trading partner, rose 7.1 percent year on year to 2.95 trillion yuan.

Its trade with Japan meanwhile contracted 1 percent year on year to 1.92 trillion yuan.