Ningbo Customs officers patrol a local port. [Photo/cnnb]

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past decade, the ratio of China's trade with countries involved in the BRI to its total foreign trade improved from 25 percent to 32.9 percent.

Statistics from Ningbo Customs show that in the first quarter of this year, Ningbo's trade with countries involved in the BRI expanded 13.5 percent year-on-year to 197.7 billion yuan ($28.68 billion).

The city's exports to these countries jumped 21.1 percent year-on-year to 133.87 billion yuan while its imports increased slightly year-on-year by 0.3 percent to 63.83 billion yuan.

In the first three months of the year, Ningbo's trade with ASEAN jumped 11.8 percent from last year to 57.19 billion yuan while its trade with Russia, Turkiye, and Iraq surged 54.8 percent, 46.8 percent, and 12.9 percent year-on-year respectively.

During the same period, Ningbo exported mechanical and electrical products worth 69.37 billion yuan to countries involved in the BRI, up 15.2 percent from last year while it's import of steel products and paper pulp from these countries soared 517.7 percent and 345.2 percent year-on-year.

In addition, many Ningbo businesses forged friendly relations with counterparts from countries involved in the BRI during the recently concluded 133rd Canton Fair. Many of the purchasers of the Ningbo Cixi Import and Export Holdings Co Ltd, for example, come from the Middle East and Russia.