East China’s Anhui province posted a 43.1 percent year-on-year increase in the volume of trade with countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the first quarter of 2021, customs data showed. The province’s trade with the BRI markets reached 36.75 billion yuan (about US$5.73 billion) in the first three months this year, accounting for 25.1 percent of its total foreign trade value, Hefei Customs said. Its exports to the BRI markets stood at 26.20 billion yuan, up 39.1 percent, while imports rose 54.2 percent to 10.6 billion yuan. In March alone, the province’s trade with the BRI markets hit a record high of 13.51 billion yuan. Private enterprises became a major driving force for Anhui’s foreign trade growth. Their trade with the BRI countries and regions reached 20.09 billion yuan, or 54.7 percent of the provincial total. The volume was 43.9 percent higher than that during the same period a year ago. State-owned enterprises saw an increase of 44.6 percent to 9.07 billion yuan. Meanwhile, foreign-funded companies registered a 39.4 percent increase in imports and exports, which stood at 7.58 billion yuan. In the Jan-Mar period, India, Vietnam and Malaysia were the major trading partners of the province. Anhui’s mechanical and electrical exports made up more than 60 percent of its total exports to the BRI countries and regions. Its high-tech exports more than doubled. China’s trade with the BRI countries and regions rose 21.4 percent to 2.5 trillion yuan during the first quarter, accounting for 29.5 percent of its total foreign trade.
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