Japan's customs-cleared trade surplus in October jumped 20.4 percent from a year earlier to 1.074 trillion yen for the fourth straight month of increase, helped partly by record-high exports to China, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.

Exports increased 5.4 percent to 4.901 trillion yen, expanding for the fourth month in a row. The growth in exports outpaced that of imports, which rose 1.8 percent to 3.827 trillion yen for the 14th consecutive month of increase.

The October data underscored Japan's growing trade with China. Both exports to and imports from China broke record highs set the previous month.