Ningbo's foreign trade up 12.3% Jan-Aug

Containers stockpiled at a port in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

Ningbo's imports and exports hit 858.02 billion yuan ($132 billion) in the first eight months of this year, an uptick of 12.3 percent year-on-year, according to official statistics from Ningbo Customs.

Specifically, its exports totaled 559.52 billion yuan, rising 14.9 percent year-on-year, while its import volume amounted to 298.5 billion yuan, an increase of 7.8 percent.

Private enterprises were still the main engine driving the city's foreign trade growth over the eight-month period.

From January to August, imports and exports of private enterprises in Ningbo expanded by 14.7 percent year-on-year to 614.36 billion yuan, accounting for 71.6 percent of the city's total.      

The city's top three trading partners during this period were the European Union, the United States, and ASEAN. Its trade with these economies was valued at 158.54 billion yuan, 152.98 billion yuan, and 97.38 billion yuan respectively, up 17.7 percent, 15.5 percent, and 19.7 percent, accounting for 47.7 percent of the city's total.

In addition, trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative rose 17.5 percent to 248.95 billion yuan, making up 29 percent of its total.

Over the period, Ningbo's trade volume with the other RCEP member countries hit 216.59 billion yuan, an increase of 5.4 percent year-on-year and accounting for 25.2 percent of Ningbo's total.

Exports of mechanical and electrical products amounted to 311.69 billion yuan, up 11.5 percent and accounting for 55.7 percent of the city's total exports.

As for imports, the city imported 34.62 billion yuan worth of basic organic chemicals during the period, an uptick of 16.7 percent.