Yunnan foreign trade up by 24.7% in 2018

Yunnan's foreign trade volume in 2018 amounted to 197.3 billion yuan (around 29.22 billion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 24.7%.

File photo: A motor workshop of Ruili Yinxiang Industrial Group near the China-Myanmar border 

According to Kunming Customs, Yunnan export value last year reached 84.77 billion yuan, up by 9.4%. Meanwhile, imports of the province added up to 112.53 billion yuan, an increase of 39.3%.

In 2018, the trade volume between Yunnan and ASEAN accounted for 46.1% of the province's foreign trade. Within ASEAN, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand are major trading partners of Yunnan.

Crude oil imports greatly increased the province's trade volume with Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and other Middle-East countries.

The provincial trade with the U.S. reached 4.96 billion yuan, an increase of 15%.

And trade between Yunnan and the Belt and Road countries recorded a 30.3% growth in 2018, with a total value of 133.16 billion yuan. These countries accounted for a 67.5% lion’s market share in the province's foreign trade.

Yunnan mainly exported produce, electromechanical products, fertilizers and labor-intensive products, while importing crude oil, natural gas, metal minerals, sulfur and others from its trading partners.

Reporting by Liu Ziyu and Zhang Ruogu; trans-editing by Wang Shixue