BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights of China's key business news from the past week:

FOREIGN TRADE

China's foreign trade of goods climbed 4.3 percent year on year in the first four months of this year to 9.51 trillion yuan (about 1.41 trillion U.S. dollars), customs data showed.

Exports increased by 5.7 percent year on year to 5.06 trillion yuan during this period, while imports went up by 2.9 percent to 4.45 trillion yuan, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said.

Trade surplus rose by 31.8 percent to 618.17 billion yuan during this period.

FISCAL REVENUE & SPENDING

China's fiscal revenue rose 5.3 percent year on year to 7.27 trillion yuan in the first four months of the year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

The central government collected about 3.47 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue during the period, up 4.3 percent year on year, while local governments saw fiscal revenue rise 6.1 percent to around 3.8 trillion yuan, MOF data showed.

INFLATION

China's consumer inflation quickened to the highest level in six months as tighter supplies of vegetables, pork and fruit drove up food prices, official data showed.

The consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, grew 2.5 percent year-on-year in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).