Hubei Province saw foreign trade reach 290.91 billion yuan in the first half (H1) of 2022, with a year-on-year increase of 18.4 percent, official data showed on July 14.

Of the total, exports posted 193.66 billion yuan, up 27.9 percent from the same period last year, while imports gained 3.2 percent to 97.25 billion yuan.

The figure registered positive growth for nine consecutive quarters. The growth rates of the province’s overall foreign trade volume and exports in H1 were 9 percentage points and 14.6 percentage points higher than the national average.

Private enterprises witnessed strong performance with the import and export volume hitting 179.43 billion yuan during the period, contributing 61.7 percent to the province’s foreign trade, while the imports and exports of state-owned enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises stood at 58.3 billion yuan and 52.85 billion yuan, respectively.

In H1, the imports and exports of mechanical and electrical products amounted to 152.08 billion yuan, accounting for 52.3 percent of the province's total, and that of agricultural products added up to 13.31 billion yuan, ascending by 25.2 percent year on year.

Exports of high-tech products soared to 62.46 billion yuan, taking up a 32.3-percent share of the province’s total. Imports of metal ores and crude oil served 20.1 percent of the province’s import volume.

Wuhan, capital city of Hubei Province, totaled 174.87 billion yuan in foreign trade, taking the lead in the province. Other cities, such as Huangshi, Yichang and Xiangyang, exceeded 10 billion yuan in imports and exports.（en.hubei.gov.cn by Zhang Yawei）