China's trade surplus expanded for the fifth straight month in August as soaring global appetite for artificial intelligence hardware continued to propel outbound shipments.

The trade surplus widened to $119.09 billion in August from $112.50 billion in July, according to data from the General Administration of Customs released Tuesday.

The latest print beat the consensus forecast of $118.60 billion tracked by Investing.com.

Total exports rose 25% year over year to $401.4 billion, in line with the consensus forecast for a 25% increase and higher than the 23.9% growth in July.

Integrated circuit exports reached $40.73 billion in August, while the figure for the eight months through August jumped 103.9% to $256.75 billion.

On the domestic front, inbound trade also quickened but trailed broader market expectations. Imports increased 28.2% to $282.36 billion, sharper than the 27.5% expansion in July but lower than the consensus forecast of a 30% jump.