According to Changzhou Customs, from January to May this year, the total export and import value in Changzhou recorded 127.65 billion yuan, up 9.7% compared to the same period last year. The export value registered 97.68 billion yuan, an increase of 16.1% year-on-year, while the import value stood at 29.97 billion yuan, down by 7.2%.

The top three trading partners are the EU, the US and the ASEAN countries. In the first five months, trade with the EU registered 26.06 billion yuan, a rise of 25.8%. Trade with the US and the ASEAN countries recorded 18.17 billion yuan and 18.15 billion yuan respectively. Trade with countries in the BRI Initiative registered at 39.61 billion yuan, a rise of 14.6%.

Private enterprises have played a major role in trade growth. The group registered 69.58 billion yuan in trade value, up by 11.6% over the past 12 months through May, 1.9 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of Changzhou.

There has been an increase in the export of mechanical and electrical products, and labor-intensive products. For the first five months, Changzhou exported 59.23 billion yuan worth of mechanical and electrical products, up by 15.1%. Meanwhile, the export of labor-intensive products increased by 11%, accounting for 19.4%.

As for import, the amount of iron ore decreased by 4.8% in this period, while the import value of mechanical and electrical products decreased by 9.1% to 12.13 billion yuan.