Imports and exports of Ningbo's Beilun district were valued at 217.69 billion yuan ($33.49 billion) in the first half of this year, an uptick of 8.8 percent year-on-year, according to official statistics from Ningbo Customs.

The foreign trade volume took the largest share of the city's total and accounted for 11 percent of the total in Zhejiang over the six-month period, 1 percentage point higher than the previous year.

Specifically, the district's exports totaled 93.74 billion yuan, rising 14.7 percent year-on-year, while its import volume amounted to 100.4 billion yuan, ranking first in Zhejiang and an increase of 4.7 percent.

The stable growth can be partly attributed to enterprises' sustained efforts to explore emerging markets that have great potential despite the COVID-19 epidemic.

From January to June, Beilun's exports to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative rose 15.6 percent to 29.57 billion yuan, while its imports from these countries totaled 39.95 billion yuan, up 22.2 percent year-on-year.

Over the period, the district's export volume to the other RCEP member countries registered an increase of 9 percent year-on-year to 19.25 billion yuan.

The district also imported 3.35 billion yuan worth of goods from Central Eastern European countries, an uptick of 27.1 percent-on-year.

Authorities said that they will give full play to preferential policies such as tax reduction and exemption and improve custom clearance efficiency to maintain the growth momentum in foreign trade in the second half of this year.