According to data from Hohhot Customs, the total value of foreign trade in Inner Mongolia reached 105.08 billion yuan ($14.99 billion) in the first seven months of 2023, an increase of 29.8 percent from the same period last year, surpassing the national foreign trade growth rate by 29.4 percentage points.

Among them, the value of exports amounted to 40.95 billion yuan, an increase of 18.3 percent year-on-year; while imports reached 64.13 billion yuan, up 38.3 percent.

From January to July, the import and export value of private enterprises in the region reached 79.13 billion yuan, marking an increase of 44.7 percent year-on-year, accounting for 75.3 percent of the total value of foreign trade.

During the same period, the import and export value of State-owned enterprises was 19.06 billion yuan, marking a drop of 3.5 percent. Meanwhile, the import and export value of foreign-invested enterprises came in at 6.56 billion yuan, up 1.4 percent.

Elsewhere, imports and exports between Inner Mongolia and Belt and Road countries hit 71.8 billion yuan, an increase of 48.5 percent year-on-year, accounting for 68.3 percent of the total value of foreign trade in the region.

Mineral energy products continue to be the main imports, with import values of 25.39 billion yuan for coal, 14.05 billion yuan for copper ore, and 1.24 billion yuan for crude oil, and year-on-year growth rates of 135 percent, 32.6 percent, and 35.5 percent, respectively.