BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's road freight transport continued fast expansion in the first 10 months of this year, the Ministry of Transport said Saturday.

From January to October, the amount of cargo carried on roads, which takes up the lion's share in China's total cargo transport, increased 7.7 percent year on year to 32.27 billion tonnes, the ministry said in a statement.

In October alone, road cargo traffic rose 10 percent to 3.63 billion tonnes, the statement said.

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

In the first 10 months, the amount of cargo transported by water rose 4.4 percent to 5.76 billion tonnes, according to the ministry.