BEIJING, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Bilateral trade between China and Africa will exceed 100 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, two years earlier than expected, the General Administration of Customs said on Wednesday.

    The forecast was based on first-half figures, which showed that bilateral trade grew almost 66 percent year-on-year to 53.14 billion U.S. dollars. The growth rate was about 40 percentage points higher than the year-earlier level.

    The total included 23 billion U.S. dollars in exports to Africa, up 40 percent, and about 30 billion U.S. dollars in imports, up about 92 percent. The import growth rate was almost 85 percentage points higher.

    The administration attributed the rapid growth rates largely to an economic upturn in Africa and mounting Chinese demand for resources.

    According to Customs data, 19 African countries each recorded more than 500 million U.S. dollars in trade with China in the first half, up from 14 a year earlier.

    Despite rapid growth, the administration said, Sino-African trade only accounted for 4.3 percent of China's first-half foreign trade.