In the first quarter of this year, the import and export value of Inner Mongolia's foreign trade reached 29.55 billion yuan ($4.43 billion), an increase of 15.9 percent over the same period last year.

Statistics from Hohhot Customs show that exports totaled 10.85 billion yuan, an increase of 33.2 percent, and imports totaled 18.7 billion yuan, an increase of 7.7 percent.

From January to March, private enterprises led Inner Mongolia's imports and exports. The import and export value of private enterprises reached 19.4 billion yuan, an increase of 18.3 percent, accounting for 65.7 percent of the total foreign trade value of the autonomous region during the same period.

The imports and exports of State-owned enterprises totaled 8.46 billion yuan, an increase of 17.2 percent and accounting for 28.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the structure of import and export commodities was further optimized, and imports were mainly resource commodities. 

In the first quarter, the value of imported copper ore was 5.05 billion yuan, an increase of 93.3 percent; the value of imported coal was 3.22 billion yuan, an increase of 64.5 percent; and the value of iron ore was 2.92 billion yuan, an increase of 44.5 percent.

The exports of steel products and agricultural products maintained a steady growth trend: Exports of steel products totaled 1.94 billion yuan, an increase of 37.1 percent, while exports of agricultural products were 1.6 billion yuan, a decrease of 5.1 percent.

Exports of high-tech products grew rapidly. In the first quarter, Inner Mongolia exported 1.55 billion yuan of high-tech products, an increase of 64.8 percent.

Moreover, Inner Mongolia's foreign trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative has increased significantly, with the total trade value rising 32.2 percent to 17.37 billion yuan.

Mongolia and Russia remain Inner Mongolia's main trading partners. Imports and exports to Mongolia totaled 8.13 billion yuan, rising 83.4 percent, while imports and exports to Russia totaled 4.01 billion yuan, increasing 1.2 percent.