Foreign trade volume rise 25.6% year-on-year in southwest China Sichuan Province in Q1

A staff member of a pavilion for Greek goods shows a Greek wine transported by the China-Europe freight train at ChengduInternational Railway Port in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, July 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Kun)

Foreign trade volume in southwest China's Sichuan Province increased 25.6 percent year-on-year to hit 196.7 billion yuan in the first three months of this year, according to statistics released by Chengdu customs on Monday.

Sichuan Province exported more 110.9 billion yuan worth of goods in the first quarter, soaring 40.7 percent year-on-year, while it imported 86.61 billion yuan worth of goods, an increase of 10.5 percent over the same period last year.

During the same period, Sichuan's foreign trade with its top five major trading partners including the United States, the European Union (UN), ASEAN, Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) accounted for 72.8 percent of its total.

In the first quarter, the province's imports and exports through processing trade amounted to 123.31 billion yuan, accounting for 62.7 percent of Sichuan's total, while its foreign trade through general trade witnessed a year-on-year growth of 24.2 percent.

The foreign trade volume generated by Sichuan's private enterprises showed strong performance in the first quarter, with the trade volume reaching 43.22 billion yuan, accounting for 22 percent of the total.

Meanwhile, the province's exports of mechanical and electrical products surged 43 percent year-on-year to 96.68 billion yuan in the first quarter, while the imports from the industry amounted to 77.7 billion yuan, up 10.5 percent year on year.

Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, witnessed a growth of 25.7 percent in foreign trade to 174.24 billion yuan in the first quarter, accounting for 88.6 percent of Sichuan's total, ranking first among all cities in the province.

Besides, Chengdu's high-tech industrial comprehensive bonded zone registered a total of 136.04 billion yuan of foreign trade volume in the first quarter, representing a year-on-year growth of 26.2 percent.