Ningbo customs officials inspect cars imported on ro-ro vessels. [Photo/ WeChat account: nbfb0574]

Ningbo's imports and exports stood at 89.67 billion yuan ($12.99 billion) in August, an increase of 12.3 percent year-on-year, official data from local customs authorities show. 

The growth rate was 4.3 percentage points faster than that in July. 

From January to August, the city's foreign trade volume amounted to 616.3 billion yuan, down by 2.4 percent.

Specifically, the city's imports stood at 212.38 billion yuan over the eight-month period, rising by 2.2 percent, while exports amounted to 403.92 billion yuan, an increase of 2.5 percent, according to Ningbo Customs.

The European Union (excluding the UK), United States and Association of Southeast Asian Nations remained the city's top three trading partners. 

Official data shows that Ningbo's trade value with the three economies stood at 110.88 billion yuan, 106.56 billion yuan and 68.42 billion yuan respectively, with the combined value accounting for 46.4 percent of the city's total trade.

In the first eight months of this year, the exports of mechanical and electrical products reached 217.64 billion yuan, edging up 0.6 percent and accounting for 53.96 percent of the city’s total.

Meanwhile, exports of labor-intensive products and high-tech products over the period stood at 115.87 billion yuan and 31.01 billion yuan respectively, representing increases of 9.3 percent and 5.6 percent respectively.

In addition, exports of plastic products, household appliances, furniture and parts, and cultural products all showed positive growth.

Commodities imported by the city were primarily mechanical and electrical products, high-tech products, copper, ore and agricultural products.