Wuxi's foreign trade sees record high in first half year

The foreign trade of Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province saw a record high in the first half of this year, reaching 353.14 billion yuan ($52.17 billion), statistics from Wuxi Customs showed.

The figure represented 13.4 percent of Jiangsu's total foreign trade.

During this same period, the city was home to 10,160 operational companies engaged in foreign trade, up 3.1 percent year-on-year.

Exports of mechanical and electrical products jumped 18.7 percent year-on-year and high-tech product exports grew 19.9 percentage points faster that the city's average.

From January to July, Wuxi's trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement increased 12.4 percent and 15 percent year-on-year, respectively.

As of the end of July, Wuxi authorities had issued 4,781 RCEP certificates of origin, affecting $230 million in cargo.

Although a new wave of COVID-19 hit Wuxi in the first half of the year, the local government still took measures to attract investment.

The Wuxi municipal bureau of commerce organized video conferences with local foreign enterprises, including Microsoft and Honeywell, to enhance relations with them. The city also participated in the online signing ceremony for foreign-invested projects held by the provincial government, during which it inked cooperation agreements for five projects.

Wuxi is expected to utilize foreign investment valued at more than $2 billion in the January-July period, ranking third in Jiangsu. As of the end of July, the newly registered foreign investment had totaled $6.08 billion.