Zibo city in East China's Shandong province saw its foreign trade reach 28.29 billion yuan ($4.29 billion) in the first quarter of 2022, with exports surging 26 percent year-on-year to 17.23 billion yuan, according to the Zibo Customs office.
In Q1, Zibo's trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN, Latin America and the European Union was worth 6.64 billion yuan, 2.85 billion yuan and 2.57 billion yuan, respectively – up 49.4 percent, 81.1 percent and 10.6 percent.
Imports and exports with the US and Russia were worth 3.09 billion yuan and 2.43 billion yuan, down 18 percent and 11.8 percent respectively, while trade with countries involved with the Belt and Road Initiative increased by 7.3 percent during the period.
The Zibo Comprehensive Bonded Zone is a high-level opening-up platform in the city, which is an important carrier for its new drivers of growth in foreign trade, such as preferential policies and new forms of trade.
In the first quarter, the value of goods supervised by the customs office in the zone was 2.48 billion yuan, an increase of 166.93 percent compared with the former bonded logistics center. Imports and exports under supervision in Q1 reached 110,900 tons, up 336 percent.
An exterior view of the Zibo Comprehensive Bonded Zone. [Photo/WeChat account: zbgxqxcxwzx]
