BEIJING, May 29 -- Freight on rail, road and waterways across China rose three percent year on year to 3.77 billion tonnes in April, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said Friday.

The growth slowed from 4.6 percent in the January-March period and 6.1 percent in April 2014, the MOT said in a monthly report.

China's major ports handled 960 million tonnes of freight in April, down 1.5 percent year on year, from a 2.5-percent increase recorded in the first quarter.

"The freight growth continued to slow in April, indicating that the economic downside pressure remains considerable," said the MOT report.