Ningbo's foreign trade totals 514.19b yuan Jan-May

A container vessel berths at Ningbo Zhoushan Port in East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: nbfb0574]

Ningbo's foreign trade was valued at 514.19 billion yuan ($71.77 billion) in the first five months of this year, according to official statistics from Ningbo Customs.

The city's exports and imports hit 334.33 billion yuan and 179.86 billion yuan, respectively. Foreign trade in May alone amounted to 111.37 billion yuan, marking the third consecutive month exceeding 100 billion yuan.

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

From January to May, imports and exports of private enterprises from Ningbo expanded 4.5 percent year-on-year to 380.95 billion yuan, accounting for 74.1 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 90.65 billion yuan, 83.02 billion yuan, and 60.64 billion yuan, respectively.

In addition, the city's trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative rose 11.9 percent to 166.1 billion yuan, making up 32.3 percent of its total.

Over the period, Ningbo's trade with Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) hit 20.82 billion yuan, an uptick of 17.6 percent year-on-year, thanks to the successful the third China-CEEC Expo, which was hosted in the city.

Robust growth was also seen in trade with several emerging markets like Russia, Mexico and Turkey, which surged by 100.2 percent, 46 percent and 25.8 percent, respectively.

Mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products were still the main exports from Ningbo, with new energy products recording impressive growth.

During the past five months, the city exported 191.76 billion yuan worth of mechanical and electrical products, up 2 percent and accounting for 57.4 percent of the city's total exports.

Exports of solar cells, electric manned vehicles and lithium-ion batteries reached 7.71 billion yuan, 4.54 billion yuan and 2.91 billion yuan, up 33.2 percent, 95.6 percent and 39.3 percent from the previous year, respectively.

With regard to imports, imports of consumer products increased by 23 percent to 18.65 billion yuan during the first five months of the year. Significant growth was seen in imports of passenger cars, meat, edible oil and edible aquatic products, which recorded an uptick of 48.5 percent, 141.9 percent, 68.4 percent and 489.7 percent, respectively.