BEIJING -- China's exports of textiles and garments rose 5.62 percent year-on-year to $187.41 billion in the first eight months of the year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The pace of increase accelerated 0.05 percentage points from the January-July period, the MIIT data showed.

During the period, the country's exports of textiles stood at $104.8 billion, up 31.99 percent year-on-year, while garment exports dropped 15.74 percent to $82.61 billion, the ministry said.

In August, China's garment exports totaled $16.21 billion, up 3.23 percent year-on-year, the first monthly growth since the start of the year.

Driven by growth in demand for epidemic prevention textiles including masks, textile exports climbed 46.96 percent year-on-year to $14.72 billion, according to the MIIT.