From January to April this year, foreign trade in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region maintained a growing momentum, with the total imports and exports hitting 1.6 trillion yuan, indicating a year-on-year increase of 12 percent.

The benefits of regional cooperation have been offered at an accelerated pace. The volume of foreign trade with Africa reached 140.44 billion yuan in the first four months, up 15.5 percent year on year. Meanwhile, trade with other RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) members surged 23.4 percent.

Exports also continued to show strong growth momentum. From January to April this year, the exports of mechanical and electrical equipment totaled 295.38 billion yuan, up 17.6 percent, driving the overall export growth by 10 percentage points. For the products of the strategic emerging industries, exports of electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries increased by 4.4 percent and 145.5 percent, respectively. Regarding the traditional advantageous products, the exports of steel reached 33.93 billion yuan, up 29.9 percent, while that of textiles and garments totaled 17.33 billion yuan, up 9 percent.

Import demand remained strong as well. During the same period, food imports reached 65.66 billion yuan, up 28.2 percent, while the volume of semiconductor manufacturing equipment totaled 18.21 billion yuan, surging 170.2 percent.

(Source: YNET.com)