(CFP Photo)

Jiangsu’s foreign trade in the first four months of this year reached a historical high of 1.76 trillion yuan, marking a 9.3% year-on-year growth and accounting for 12.7% of the nationwide total, according to Nanjing Customs.

Private enterprises played a key role in the province’s foreign trade expansion. Data showed their total import and export value reached 811.74 billion yuan during the period, up 18.8% year-on-year, and accounting for 46.2% of the provincial total. Meanwhile, the trade conducted by foreign-invested companies grew by 3.3% year-on-year to 807.99 billion yuan.

During the period, Jiangsu’s exports of mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products increased by 8% and 12.3% year-on-year, respectively.

The trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative increased by 14.7% year-on-year, by 9.1% with ASEAN, and by 13.5% with South Korea.