Inner Mongolia foreign trade growth accelerates in first 4 months

Loaded containers are stacked at a port in Ereenhot, a city in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region. [Photo/IC]

According to statistics released by Hohhot customs on May 13, in the first four months of 2019, the total value of foreign trade in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region reached 36.02 billion yuan ($5.24 billion), an increase of 11.9 percent over the same period last year and 7.6 percent higher than the country's overall foreign trade growth rate.

Mongolia and Russia remain the region's primary trading partners. Trade between Inner Mongolia and Mongolia was valued at 11.31 billion yuan, up 32.4 percent, while trade with Russia was valued at 6.36 billion yuan, up 1.1 percent.

Foreign trade between Inner Mongolia and countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI countries) maintained its growth trend, reaching a value of 23.8 billion yuan, an increase of 13.6 percent and accounting for 66.1 percent of all foreign trade.

The private sector is still the main force for foreign trade in the region. The total value of foreign trade in the private sector reached 25.38 billion yuan, an increase of 13 percent and accounting for 70.5 percent of the region's total foreign trade.