Statistics released by Shijiazhuang Customs show that in the first quarter of this year, private enterprises in our province achieved a total value of 98.28 billion yuan in foreign trade imports and exports, increasing by 1.2% year-on-year, accounting for 72% of the total value of foreign trade imports and exports in the province, and contributing 0.8 percentage points to the overall growth of imports and exports.

In the first quarter, the number of private enterprises with actual import and export performance in the province reached 14,000, accounting for 95.5% of the total number of enterprises with actual import and export performance in the province. The activity level of foreign trade has been continuously increasing.
This year, private enterprises in our province have been actively exploring international markets, and their pace of going global has significantly accelerated. From the perspective of trading partners, the number of import and export trading partners of private enterprises in the province has reached 219. In the first quarter, the import and export volume of private enterprises in our province with countries in the Latin American region reached 15.59 billion yuan, increasing by 53.7% year-on-year. Imports and exports with the Arab League reached 8.65 billion yuan, increasing by 64.1% year-on-year. Imports and exports with the countries jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative reached 57.15 billion yuan, increasing by 8.5% year-on-year. Imports and exports with other BRICS member countries reached 23.57 billion yuan, increasing by 30.2% year-on-year.

In the first quarter, the exports of private enterprises in our province were mainly mechanical and electrical products, while the imports were mainly agricultural products. In terms of exports, private enterprises exported mechanical and electrical products worth 30.36 billion yuan, increasing by 8.6% year-on-year, accounting for more than 40% of the total export value of private enterprises in the province. During the same period, private enterprises imported agricultural products worth 6.28 billion yuan, up 22.7% year-on-year. Among them, they imported soybeans worth 2.55 billion yuan, up 1.1 times year-on-year. In addition, the import of crude oil reached 2.72 billion yuan, increasing by 17.9% year-on-year. Imported coal and lignite reached 1.5 billion yuan, increasing by 89.5% year-on-year.