Chongqing's foreign trade grows 9.3 pct in Q1

CHONGQING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality saw its foreign trade exceed 197 billion yuan (about 30.7 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 9.3 percent year on year, the city's customs authorities said Wednesday.

Of the total, exports rose 14 percent year on year to 127.7 billion yuan, while imports gained 1.6 percent to nearly 69.4 billion yuan.

The import and export of foreign-invested enterprises remained vigorous. In the first quarter, the import and export of foreign-invested enterprises in Chongqing reached 98.9 billion yuan, up 12 percent year on year. The import and export of private enterprises reached 80.3 billion yuan, up 7 percent year on year, and that of state-owned enterprises reached 17.7 billion yuan, up 5.4 percent.

During the period, Chongqing's foreign trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the EU stood at about 32.6 billion yuan and 29.8 billion yuan, respectively, up 8 percent and 5.6 percent from the previous year.

The municipality's trade with countries along the Belt and Road reached 56.9 billion yuan with a year-on-year increase of 13.4 percent.