China's Gansu Province sees foreign trade up 27.8 pct in Jan-Aug

Aerial photo taken on April 21, 2022 shows Gansu's first international freight train that runs via the China-Laos Railway before departing from Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province. (Xinhua/Du Zheyu)

LANZHOU, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Gansu Province saw its foreign trade reach 42.08 billion yuan (about 6.09 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of 2022, a year-on-year increase of 25.3 percent, according to local customs.

During this period, the province's trade with countries along the Belt and Road hit 20.47 billion yuan, up 27.8 percent year on year, accounting for 48.6 percent of the province's total trade. Its trade with members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) rose 48.9 percent to 9.02 billion yuan.

In the first eight months of the year, the five major trading partners of Gansu were Kazakhstan, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Union (EU), the Democratic Republic of the Congo  (DRC) and Indonesia, with the total import and export value coming in at 10.01 billion yuan, 4.26 billion yuan, 3.09 billion yuan, 3.02 billion yuan and 2.8 billion yuan, respectively, up 47.6 percent, 123.7 percent, 47.5 percent, 119.4 percent, and 745.4 percent.

Exports of mechanical and electrical products reached 3.94 billion yuan, up 27.9 percent year on year. The province's exports of agricultural products increased 35.5 percent, with export volumes of seed and apple juice surging 49.3 percent and 77.5 percent, respectively.