Taizhou's foreign trade sets record in first five months

Taizhou Customs recently reported that the city's foreign trade volume hit a record 69.3 billion yuan ($9.54 billion) from January to May – a 27.5 percent year-on-year increase that ranked it third in East China's Jiangsu province.

Taizhou city's exports were worth 49.57 billion yuan, up 28.1 percent, while imports rose 26.2 percent to 19.73 billion yuan.

"The strong start to Taizhou's foreign trade this year, despite complex domestic and international factors, has exceeded national and provincial growth rates," said Qiao Hualin, deputy director of Taizhou Customs.

Key product categories all showed impressive performances – especially exports of mechanical and electrical products, which contributed significantly to total exports.

In the first five months, these exports rose 38.7 percent to 35.01 billion yuan, accounting for 70.6 percent of the city's total exports.

Exports of ships and refrigerators increased by 104.4 percent and 30.5 percent, respectively. Chemicals raw material imports grew 66.7 percent to 6.17 billion yuan and high-tech product imports surged 76.4 percent to 3.74 billion yuan.

Private enterprises played a pivotal role, with their trade growing 35.7 percent to 34.32 billion yuan during the period, representing 49.5 percent of the city's total trade.

The trade of foreign-funded enterprises increased by 20.7 percent to 34.7 billion yuan in the five months, making up 50.1 percent of the total.

Emerging markets also saw robust growth. Trade with Belt and Road countries rose 51 percent to 40.51 billion yuan, contributing 58.4 percent to the total. Traditional markets like the European Union and the United States also rebounded, with trade increasing by 27.1 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively.

The processing trade improved significantly, with a 70.4 percent increase to 31.46 billion yuan, comprising 45.4 percent of Taizhou's foreign trade.

Among the city's districts, Jingjiang, Xinghua, Hailing and Taixing reported respective growth rates of 69.5 percent, 46.4 percent, 22.1 percent and 19.2 percent.

Moving forwards, the local commerce bureau plans further support for market expansion through initiatives like the Taizhou premium products global promotions plan and participation in major domestic and international trade fairs.