BEIJING -- China's steel imports registered rapid growth in the first 10 months of the year, while the decline in exports narrowed, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The country's steel imports surged 73.9 percent year-on-year to over 17 million tons in the Jan-Oct period. The growth was up 1.7 percentage points from the first three quarters, MIIT data showed.

Around 44.43 million tons of steel was exported in the first ten months, down 19.3 percent year-on-year, narrowing the decline by 0.3 percentage points from the first three quarters.

In October, the country's steel imports registered an 87.6-percent growth to 1.93 million tons, while exports reached around 4.04 million tons, down 15.5 percent year-on-year.

Amid solid efforts to bolster the economy, the country's major steel firms saw sales revenue grow 7.2 percent year-on-year to 3.8 trillion yuan (about $580 billion) in the first 10 months.