Anhui's trade with BRI markets up 11.8%

East China’s Anhui province posted an 11.8 percent year-on-year increase in the volume of trade with countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2020, customs data showed.

The province’s trade with the BRI markets reached 131.27 billion yuan (about US$20.18 billion) last year, accounting for 24.3 percent of its total foreign trade value, Hefei Customs said.

Its exports to the BRI markets stood at 98.38 billion yuan, up 10.2 percent, while imports rose 17 percent to 32.89 billion yuan.

Private enterprises became a major driving force for Anhui’s foreign trade growth. Their trade with the BRI countries and regions reached 74.79 billion yuan, or 57 percent of the provincial total. The volume was 12.8 percent higher than that in 2019.

State-owned enterprises saw an increase of 16.4 percent, while foreign-funded companies registered a 5.3 percent increase.

In 2020, the province’s trade with its major trading partners - Vietnam, India, Singapore and Malaysia - reached 50.72 billion yuan, or 38.6 percent of the total. Except for a slight decrease of 1.4 percent in its imports and exports to India, the province saw nearly 30 percent increases in trade with the remaining three countries.

The province’s mechanical and electrical imports from the BRI countries and regions went up 3.9 percent to 9.7 billion yuan. Its food imports surged 69.3 percent, while high-tech imports declined 3.6 percent.