A container vessel is berthed at the Jintang port area of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in Zhejiang province in July. [Photo by Yao Feng/For China Daily]

Ningbo's foreign trade has gotten off to a good start this year despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The city's imports and exports were valued at 259.15 billion yuan ($39.87 billion) in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 4.12 percent year-on-year, according to Ningbo Customs.

Specifically, its exports stood at 162.57 billion yuan from January to March, rising by 41.6 percent, while import volume reached 96.58 billion yuan, up 40.6 percent.

In March, Ningbo's foreign trade volume surged 28.6 percent year-on-year to 88.4 billion yuan. Exports amounted to 51.15 billion yuan, an increase of 21.3 percent.

Private enterprises made up the majority of the city's foreign trade volume over the three-month period.

Imports and exports of private enterprises rose 47.5 percent to 181.01 billion yuan, accounting for 69.8 percent of the city's total.

The European Union (excluding the UK), the United States and ASEAN were the city's top three trading partners during the period. 

The value of trade between Ningbo and the three aforementioned economies stood at 45.18 billion yuan, 43.94 billion yuan and 28.15 billion yuan respectively, with the combined value accounting for 45.3 percent of the city's total trade.

In addition, the city's trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative expanded 28 percent to 70.83 billion yuan, accounting for 27.3 percent of its total trade. 

During the same period, trade with the 17 Central and Eastern European Countries surged 57.7 percent to 8.85 billion yuan.

Exports of mechanical and electrical products were valued at 93.29 billion yuan, up 45.9 percent and accounting for 57.4 percent of the city's total exports.

Meanwhile, exports of labor-intensive products during the period stood at 39.52 billion yuan, an uptick of 36.2 percent year-on-year.

The city imported 11.58 billion yuan worth of metal ores and ore sands, up 93.2 percent year-on-year.

The head official from the Ningbo municipal bureau of commerce forecasted that the growing momentum of the city's foreign trade will be sustained over the next few months due to positive factors such as the availability of COVID-19 vaccines as well as domestic and global economic recovery.