BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's road freight transport continued fast expansion in the first nine months of 2018, the Ministry of Transport said Saturday.

From January to September, the amount of cargo carried on roads, which takes up the lion's share in China's total cargo transport, increased 7.5 percent year on year to 28.64 billion tonnes, the ministry said in a statement.

In September alone, road cargo traffic rose 7.6 percent to 3.71 billion tonnes, the statement said.

The growth came amid China's steady economic growth, which stood at 6.7 percent in the three quarters, above the government's annual target of around 6.5 percent.

In the first nine months, the amount of cargo transported by water rose 4.1 percent to 5.12 billion tonnes, according to the ministry.