The coastal city of Xiamen, East China's Fujian province sees its foreign trade volume grow 6.4 year-on-year from January to August. [Photo/xmnn.cn]

Foreign trade in the coastal city of Xiamen, East China's Fujian province increased 6.4 percent year-on-year to 435.76 billion yuan ($64.54 billion) in the Jan-Aug period, accounting for 50.1 percent of the province's total foreign trade, according to statistics released by Xiamen Customs.

Exports totaled 224.2 billion yuan, a decrease of 2.6 percent year-on-year, while imports increased to 211.56 billion yuan, up 17.9 percent year-on-year.

Customs data show that from June to August, Xiamen posted double-digit growth in foreign trade, hitting a record high of 63.35 billion yuan in June and 65.68 billion yuan in August, a reflection of the city's post-pandemic economic recovery.

State-owned enterprises continued to play a leading role in stabilizing foreign trade, generating a  total foreign trade volume of 147.52 billion yuan from January to August, an increase of 33 percent year-on-year, while that of foreign-invested companies and private enterprises showed a slight decrease in the same period.

Statistics show that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was still Xiamen's largest trade partner in the first eight months of the year. The total value of imports and exports between the two was 79.46 billion yuan, an increase of 18.1 percent year-on-year, while the city saw a decrease in imports and exports with the Unites States and the European Union, down 2.2 and 2.7 percent year-on-year respectively.

Mechanical and electrical goods, mineral ores and agricultural products were the primary import commodities, contributing 60.3 percent of the city's total import value.

Labor-intensive products and mechanical and electrical products were the city's main exports, accounting for 80.2 percent of Xiamen's total export value.