Imports and exports in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province, are on the rise. They post a 4.1 percent year-on-year increase in the first eight months of this year. [Photo/VCG]

Xiamen's imports and exports in the first eight months of this year increased 4.1 percent year-on-year, 0.5 percentage points higher than the national average, statistics from Xiamen Customs showed.

The city in East China's Fujian province reported that the value of total foreign trade hit 408.43 billion yuan ($57.71 billion) in the January to August period. Exports jumped 8.1 percent year-on-year to 229.76 billion yuan, while imports slipped 0.5 percent to 178.67 billion yuan.

From the start of the year, Xiamen municipal government has rolled out a series of policies to improve the competitiveness of export commodities, expand international markets and nurture new industries.

Over the same period, Xiamen Customs streamlined its operations by extending customs clearance in advance to reduce customs clearance processing times.

According to Xiamen Customs, in June the average import and export clearance times at Xiamen Port were 44.76 hours and 4.45 hours respectively, cut by 59.2 percent and 80.2 percent on the previous year.

The import and export costs for containers at Xiamen Port remain at the lowest level among main ports along the coast of Chinese mainland, equal to or even lower than costs in the ports of Hong Kong, Kaohsiung and Singapore.