Ningbo's foreign trade has grown steadily over the past seven months, official data shows.

The city's total import and export volume reached 521.33 billion yuan ($73.87 billion), an increase of 9.4 percent year-on-year, despite the complex global trade landscape, as per Ningbo Customs.

From January to July, the import volume climbed by 5.9 percent to 181.09 billion yuan, while the export volume went up by 11.4 percent to 340.24 billion yuan. In July alone, the city's foreign trade posted a 20.3 percent growth year-on-year.

Private enterprises and foreign-funded companies played prime roles in driving foreign trade growth, contributing 92.1 percent of its total over the period.

Private businesses imported and exported 349.63 billion yuan worth of goods, an increase of 12.7 percent while the figure for foreign-funded companies was 130.76 billion yuan, an uptick of three percent.

Due to the ongoing Sino-US trade frictions, Ningbo experienced a 6.7 percent decline in trade with the US, totaling 80.25 billion yuan.

Meanwhile, the city's foreign trade with the EU and ASEAN surged by 8.3 percent and 22.2 percent to 108.14 billion yuan and 53.96 billion yuan, respectively.

Its trade with BRI countries hit 148.82 billion yuan from January to July, expanding 19.5 percent. Meanwhile, trade with 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe stood at 16.4 billion yuan, rising 10.9 percent.

Specifically, the import volume of bulk commodities went up. The city imported 19.53-million-ton iron ore, 3.36-million-ton primary-shaped plastic and 1.6-million-ton refined oil, representing increases of 7.1 percent, 40.8 percent and 120 percent respectively.