A view of the Taicang Port, a key hub for foreign trade in Jiangsu Province. (CFP)

In the first seven months of this year, the total foreign trade of the nine provinces and two municipalities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt exceeded 11 trillion yuan, setting a new historical high and accounting for 45.2% of the national total, according to Nanjing Customs.

Among them, Jiangsu’s imports and exports increased by 8.1% year-on-year to over 3 trillion yuan, accounting for 28.1% of economic belt’s total and ranking first in the region.

In terms of trade partners, the nine provinces and two municipalities achieved foreign trade totaling 5 trillion yuan with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, representing a 5.2% year-on-year growth and 43.4% of the national total with these countries.

Furthermore, the economic belt’s trade with members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) hit nearly 3.5 trillion yuan, which marked a 2.2% year-on-year increase and accounted for 46.3% of the national total with these members.

Notably, the nine provinces and two municipalities exported more than 3 trillion yuan worth of high-tech products, an increase of 8.4%, which accounted for 48.8% of the nation's total exports of high-tech products.