Ningbo's foreign trade volume exceeded 600 billion yuan ($83.51 billion) in the first half of this year, according to data from Ningbo Customs.

Specifically, exports accounted for over 400 billion yuan, while imports were nearly 220 billion yuan.

Private enterprises played a significant role in driving the growth of Ningbo's foreign trade, achieving a total import and export volume of over 460 billion yuan from January to June. This represents a 3.4 percent increase compared to the same period last year and accounted for 74.3 percent of the city's total trade.

The European Union and the United States remained the top two trading partners for Ningbo. During the first half of the year, trade with the EU amounted to 108.8 billion yuan, while trade with the US hit 101.6 billion yuan. Although there were year-on-year decreases of 6.3 percent and 10.1 percent, respectively, trade with these regions remained significant. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) emerged as the third largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching nearly 74 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 2.1 percent.

In addition, Ningbo's trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative exceeded 200 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 11.2 percent. This accounted for 32.4 percent of the city's total trade during the first half of the year. Trade with Central and Eastern European countries also saw a substantial increase, reaching nearly 25 billion yuan, marking a year-on-year growth of 16.6 percent.

The largest export category for Ningbo was electromechanical products, with a total value of 231.5 billion yuan, accounting for 57.1 percent of the city's total exports. Despite a slight 1.3 percent increase compared to the same period last year, these products continued to dominate Ningbo's export scene. However, the export of labor-intensive products experienced a 5.5 percent decrease at 92.25 billion yuan.

Notably, Ningbo demonstrated remarkable growth in the export of new energy products. Sales of solar cells, new energy vehicles, and lithium-ion batteries exceeded 8.9 billion yuan, 4.7 billion yuan, and 3.4 billion yuan, respectively, marking growth rates of 31.1 percent, 62.6 percent, and 34.6 percent.

In terms of imports, electromechanical products experienced a 5.7 percent decline. Consumer goods imports, on the other hand, reached 21.88 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 16.2 percent.