A view of Suzhou New District in the warm hues of dusk. [Photo/China Daily]
Foreign trade in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, increased by 14.1 percent year-on-year to 637.78 billion yuan ($98.93 billion) from January to March 2022, according to data from the local customs.
The amount accounts for 6.8 percent and 49.5 percent of total imports and exports in China and Jiangsu province, respectively. It ranked fourth in China during this period, following Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.
In the first three months of this year, Suzhou's total exports increased by 14.2 percent year-on-year to 374.51 billion yuan. Imports were up 14.1 percent year-on-year, reaching 263.27 billion yuan.
The growth rate in foreign trade among private enterprises surpassed foreign-invested enterprises. In the first quarter of 2022, foreign trade of private enterprises in the city totaled 183.04 billion yuan, an increase of 23.9 percent annually. Imports and exports of the city's State-owned enterprises increased by 50.2 percent to reach 43.57 billion yuan. The growth rate was 36 percentage points higher than the city's overall growth rate.
During the same period, imports and exports of foreign-invested enterprises in Suzhou reached 411.16 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.7 percent.
From January to March this year, the city's processing trade increased by 15.7 percent yearly to reach 273.99 billion yuan, while trade of bonded logistics goods amounted to 107.29 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.7 percent.
In the first three months of 2022, foreign trade between Suzhou and RCEP member countries totaled 253.94 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.5 percent, while the city's foreign trade with countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative totaled 144.11 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.3 percent.