Xiamen's foreign trade on road to recovery

A container vessel berths at a port in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province. [Photo/xmnn.cn]

Xiamen in East China's Fujian province reported a 29 percent year-on-year growth in cargo imports and exports during the first quarter of this year with a value of 185.39 billion yuan ($28.38 billion), local media outlets reported.

According to statistics from the city's customs department, exports increased 28.9 percent to 91.09 billion yuan, while imports increased 29 percent to 94.30 billion yuan. The trade gap was 3.21 billion yuan, 30 percent larger than in the same period in 2020.

From January to March, the city's general trade rose 41.1 percent to 136.99 billion yuan, accounting for 73.9 percent of Xiamen's total foreign trade, 6.3 percentage points higher than in the same period in 2020.

Meanwhile, processing trade increased 20.8 percent to 29.05 billion yuan and bonded logistics trade dropped 14.4 percent to 18.86 billion yuan.

ASEAN countries, the United States, the European Union, and Australia were Xiamen's top four trade partners with trade valued at 35.26 billion yuan, 25.73 billion yuan, 19.70 billion yuan, and 14.16 billion yuan, respectively, up 22.9, 50.6, 22.7 and 9.3 percent.

In addition, imports and exports with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership increased 22.6 and 18.1 percent, respectively.

Statistics also show that the import of bulk commodities grew significantly in the first quarter, with iron ore, log, sorghum, edible oil, and barley imports up 54.9, 57.9, 295, 205.6, and 879.2 percent, respectively.

Mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products were the top two exports, valued at 42.04 billion yuan and 23.93 billion yuan, respectively. Combined, they accounted for 72.4 percent of the city's total exports.