The value of foreign trade in Lishui city – located in East China's Zhejiang province – topped 30 billion yuan for the first time in 2020, reaching 34.36 billion yuan ($5.31 billion) for the full year, according to data released by the Lishui Customs department on Jan 25.

Of that, exports came in at 30.07 billion yuan, up 12.5 percent year-on-year, while imports reached 4.29 billion yuan – soaring 55.8 percent and taking the city's import growth rate to number one in the province.

Last year, Lishui introduced cloud computing, big data and other digital technologies to move offline international exhibitions towards online platforms, which gave local foreign trading firms a fresh channel to negotiate with international buyers.

In one example Longquan -- the county level city administered by Lishui – carried out the Zhejiang (Longquan) Export Online Fair series activities, which helped more than 40 auto parts companies connect with buyers from Russia, Egypt and other countries.

Official data also showed that in 2020, Lishui's foreign trade with nations involved in the Belt and Road Initiative was worth 13.35 billion yuan, an increase of 9.8 percent, accounting for 38.8 percent of the city's total imports and exports.

Located in Qingtian county in Lishui, Altorey Import and Export Trading Co Ltd shipped premium wines from famous Spanish chateaus to Zhejiang province's Yiwu city via the China-Europe freight train and sold them to major cities across the country.

Another company reported similar good fortune.

"With the help of the Belt and Road Initiative and favorable policies, our customs clearance procedures for imported timber in Europe are easier," said Zeng Liujun, general manager of Zhejiang Wosen Trade Co Ltd, another foreign trading firm located in Lishui.

Zeng added that the subsequent distribution for retail sales was faster and his company imported 24,000 cubic meters of wood from Romania, Croatia and other Eastern European countries through online procurements in 2020.