Hohhot's imports, exports hit 6.8b yuan

In the first half of 2018, Hohhot's imports and exports reached a value of 6.8 billion yuan ($977.86 million), with exports worth 2.69 billion yuan and imports worth 4.08 billion yuan, an increase of 4.8 percent and 43.4 percent respectively, according to the city's customs office.

Trade between Hohhot and Germany more than doubled to 1.02 billion yuan, accounting for 15.1 percent of the total figure, making Germany the city’s largest trading partner.

The Netherlands was another major trading partner of the city, with the value of trade between the two jumping to 900 million yuan, representing 13.3 percent of total foreign trade.

A big increase in trade with Mongolia was also recorded, with a rise of 25.5 percent to 610 million yuan, comprising 9 percent of the total.

General trade dominated the city's foreign trade with its volume hitting 6.72 billion yuan, accounting for 99.3 percent and rising 28.7 percent year on year.

Processing trade amounted to 29.47 million yuan, making up just 0.4 percent of the total.

In addition, bonded imports and exports under customs supervision were valued at 6.45 million yuan, down by 25.4 percent.

The major drivers of foreign trade were private firms while State-owned enterprises and foreign firms recorded lower volumes of trading.  

The imports and exports of private enterprises hit 3.32 billion yuan, almost doubling in a year and making up 49.1 percent of the total.

For State-owned enterprises, the volume dropped by 10 percent to 1.64 billion yuan; for foreign companies, the amount fell by 27.6 percent to 1.6 billion yuan. Individually, the import and export value of State-owned and foreign companies made up 27.2 percent and 23.7 percent of the total.

Organic chemicals were ranked as Hohhot’s top export and single-crystal silicon wafers were its major imported product. Development in the photovoltaic and electronics industries facilitated the importing of single-crystal silicon wafers, fueling the strong growth in Hohhot’s foreign trade.