An aerial photo of a port in Xiamen, Fujian province. [Photo/WeChat account: xiamen_swj]

According to Xiamen Customs, Xiamen's import and export value in foreign trade totaled 84.5 billion yuan ($13.07 billion) in August alone, up 27.5 percent year-on-year.

Statistics showed that the imports surged 40.7 percent to 43.95 billion yuan while exports grew 15.7 percent to 40.55 billion yuan in August.

The city's import and export value has hit new highs for five consecutive months since April this year.

Statistics from January to August showed that the imports and exports of Xiamen jumped 31.4 percent from the previous year to 574.91 billion yuan. Specifically, imports reached 298.01 billion yuan and exports hit 276.9 billion yuan, growing 39.7 percent and 23.5 percent year-on-year respectively.

Statistics also showed that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Australia are the city's top four trading partners in the Jan-Aug period, generating 101.22 billion, 75.42 billion, 62.57 billion and 46.77 billion yuan respectively, up 27.2 percent, 35 percent, 26.9 percent and 25.8 percent from the previous year.

During the same period, the city's trade with Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership member countries increased by 24.6 percent year-on-year. Trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative grew 29.6 percent year-on-year. Trade with BRICS countries－Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa－rose 22.2 percent from the previous year.

From January to August, private companies dominated the market with 207.86 billion yuan in import and export value, up 43.2 percent year-on-year. During the same time, the import and export value for State-owned and foreign-invested companies increased by 31.1 percent and 20 percent year-on-year respectively.

The city mainly exported mechanical and electrical products, which increased by 18.1 percent to 122.81 billion yuan in the Jan-Aug period. During the same period, the import of mechanical and electrical products grew 25.3 percent to 61.56 billion yuan.