China's Hunan reports trade surge with Belt and Road countries

CHANGSHA, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Central China's Hunan Province saw its trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative amounted to 89.78 billion yuan (about 13.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the first seven months of this year, surging 18.3 percent year on year, local customs said Saturday.

The province's exports to these countries increased 17.1 percent to 69.11 billion yuan during the period, and its imports reached 20.67 billion yuan, up 22.5 percent year on year, according to the customs of Changsha, the provincial capital.

Hunan's trade volume with Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia stood at 11.85 billion yuan, 10.4 billion yuan and 8.37 billion yuan respectively in the seven-month period, ranking the top three among Belt and Road countries.

Private enterprises accounted for more than 70 percent of the province's trade with Belt and Road countries during the period, and that of foreign-invested enterprises reached 8.75 billion yuan, up 11.6 percent year on year.

Customs data shows that exports of mechanical and electrical products and imports of rubber and metal ore posted significant growth during the period.