Xiamen city in East China's Fujian province saw robust growth in its foreign trade in the first four months of 2021, with the total value of imports and exports surging 32.7 percent to hit 258.28 billion yuan ($40.1 billion) compared with the same period last year, according to statistics recently released by the city's customs office.

Imports soared to 132.47 billion yuan, a 35.8 percent year-on-year gain, while exports jumped 29.6 percent to 125.81 billion yuan.

The value of imports and exports in April alone reached 72.72 billion yuan – a record for a single month and topping 70 billion yuan for the first time – in a performance that was up 42.9 percent year-on-year.

Top trading partners are ASEAN followed by US, EU

From January to April, Xiamen's foreign trade with RCEP countries, countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and BRICS countries maintained positive growth.

During the period, imports and exports to ASEAN, the United States and the European Union were worth 45.3 billion yuan, 34.52 billion yuan and 27.6 billion yuan. They were up 29.3 percent, 44.8 percent and 26.2 percent, respectively and the three combined accounted for 41.6 percent of Xiamen's total foreign trade.

Impressive growth by private enterprises

In the first four months, trade conducted by private enterprises in Xiamen reached 95.42 billion yuan, an increase of 55.3 percent year-on-year, accounting for 36.9 percent of total foreign trade. Trade done by State-owned enterprises hit 84.2 billion yuan, up 29 percent, accounting for 32.6 percent of the total.

Mechanical, electrical products shine

In terms of product categories, exports were mainly mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products, while imports were dominated by mechanical and electrical products, agricultural products and iron ore.

During the period, Xiamen's exports of mechanical and electrical products reached 57.48 billion yuan, a 20.5 percent increase, accounting for 45.7 percent of total export value. Exports in seven categories of labor-intensive products – such as textiles and clothing – rose 9.9 percent to hit 32.74 billion yuan, accounting for 26 percent of the total.

Meanwhile, imports of mechanical and electrical products reached 28.82 billion yuan, up 19.5 percent, accounting for 21.8 percent of the total import value. Imports of agricultural products hit 23.86 billion yuan, up 71 percent, accounting for 18 percent of the total, while iron ore imports were worth 21.64 billion yuan – up 60.8 percent and accounting for 16.3 percent of the total.