In the first half of this year, Xiamen, a coastal city in East China's Fujian province, registered a total of 480 billion yuan ($67.16 billion) in foreign trade, an 8.4 percent year-on-year increase.
The city's imports were worth 256.71 billion yuan, up 26.2 percent year-on-year, whereas exports totaled 223.29 billion yuan, a slight decline of 1.1 percent year-on-year.
Private enterprises in Xiamen contributed significantly to this growth in foreign trade, accounting for 44.2 percent of the city's total foreign trade value of 212.29 billion yuan, a 26.2 percent increase year-on-year. State-owned and foreign-invested enterprises accounted for 35.5 percent and 20.2 percent of the total foreign trade respectively.
The exports were dominated by electromechanical goods, which totaled 110.35 billion yuan and made up 49.4 percent of the city's total export value. Labor-intensive goods followed at 57.25 billion yuan, or 25.6 percent of total exports.
Metal ores were the most imported goods, totaling 54.2 billion yuan and constituting 21.1 percent of the total import value. This was followed by agricultural and electromechanical products at 43.7 billion yuan and 42.07 billion yuan respectively.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Union (EU), and the United States were Xiamen's top trading partners. Trade volume between them and the Chinese city were 85.46 billion yuan, 67.51 billion yuan, and 56.11 billion yuan respectively.
Trade between Xiamen and other BRICS countries also grew significantly, with imports increasing by 62.5 percent year-on-year to 41.39 billion yuan and exports by 15.6 percent year-on-year to 14.73 billion yuan.
Xiamen Port. [Photo/Xiamen Daily]
China announced and implemented on May 15 a policy allowing visa-free entry of foreign tourist groups aboard cruise ships via all cruise ship ports along the country's coastline.
China and Georgia are set to waive visa requirements for travelers starting May 28.
