Fujian's foreign trade up 5.5% in 2020

Fujian's foreign trade reached 1.4 trillion yuan ($216.71 billion) in 2020, 5.5 percent higher than in 2019, according to statistics released by Fuzhou Customs on Jan 19.

The province's exports grew by 2.3 percent year-on-year to 847.44 billion yuan last year, while its imports surged 10.6 percent year-on-year to 556.13 billion yuan, demonstrating the resilience of its economy in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Customs authorities said that the foreign trade volume of general goods totaled 1.05 trillion yuan last year, up 8.3 percent year-on-year and accounting for 74.9 percent of the province's total foreign trade.

Private enterprises recorded a total of 708.45 billion yuan in foreign trade, growing 9.6 percent year-on-year and accounting for 50.5 percent of Fujian's total foreign trade.

The province's trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations jumped 13.8 percent year-on-year to 283.1 billion yuan last year, while its trade with the European Union saw a year-on-year decline of 1.9 percent to 159.37 billion yuan. Trade with Belt and Road countries rose 7.2 percent to 488.19 billion yuan in 2020.

Exports of mechanical and electrical products acted as Fujian's main exports last year, and the province exported 319.94 billion yuan in mechanical and electrical products, up 7.4 percent year-on-year and accounting for more than 37 percent of its total exports.