BEIJING - China's transport sector sustained stable growth in July, with both freight volumes and passenger flows rising and fixed-asset investment remaining strong, according to official data released Wednesday.

The sector handled 4.97 billion metric tons of freight last month, an increase of 3.4 percent from the same period a year earlier, and faster than the 2.9 percent growth in June, Li Ying, spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport, said at a press conference.

Specifically, freight volumes rose 4.5 percent for rail, 3.3 percent for road, 3.4 percent for waterway, and a robust 15.3 percent for civil aviation.

Port throughput nationwide also expanded at a faster pace. Cargo handled by Chinese ports reached 1.54 billion tons in July, up 6.9 percent year-on-year, with the growth rate accelerating by 2.2 percentage points from the previous month.

Passenger mobility continued to pick up, reflecting stronger travel demand. A total of 5.71 billion cross-regional passenger trips were recorded in July, representing a 2.2 percent increase compared to the same period last year, and also a 0.7 percentage point improvement from June.

Transport infrastructure investment stayed at a high level. Total fixed-asset investment in the sector reached 306.1 billion yuan ($43.05 billion) in July. Of this, railway investment accounted for 77.1 billion yuan, highway investment 200.5 billion yuan, waterway investment 17.3 billion yuan, and civil aviation investment 11.2 billion yuan.

"Overall, the transport sector maintained a steady upward momentum in July," Li said.