BEIJING - The growth rate of China's national freight volume, an indicator of economic activity, slowed in July, official data showed Monday.

Railways, highways and waterways carried a total of 3.63 billion tonnes of cargo in July, up 4 percent year on year, 0.7 percentage points lower than the growth in June, Ministry of Transport data showed.

Freight volume for the first seven months rose 3.2 percent year on year to 23.36 billion tonnes, according to the ministry.

In July, rail freight volume fell 6.7 percent year on year to 260 million tonnes, it said.

Highway freight volume increased 5.5 percent year on year to 2.83 billion tonnes while waterway freight volume remained flat at 530 million tonnes in July.