According to statistics released by Suzhou Customs on Sept. 14, Suzhou’s foreign trade value in the first 8 months of this year totaled 1,675.07 billion yuan, an increase of 8.6% over the same period last year (similarly hereinafter), accounting for 5.9% and 46% of the country’s and the province’s total respectively. Its exports increased by 9.7% to 1,033.96 billion yuan, while its imports rose by 6.9 % to 641.11 billion yuan. In August, the city’s imports and exports were 221.64 billion yuan, a growth of 7%, of which the exports increased by 12% to 135.7 billion yuan.
From January to August, Suzhou’s imports and exports of processing trade were 695.91 billion yuan, up by 12.5%, generating 5 percentage points of growth for the city’s foreign trade. Meanwhile, the import and export volume for general trade reached 723.81 billion yuan, an increase of 4.8%, accounting for 42.7% of the city’s total, of which exports grew by 11.6% to 466.42 billion yuan. And the import and export of bonded logistics grew by 11.1% to 238.93 billion yuan, accounting for 14.3% of the city’s total.
During this period, the foreign trade volume of foreign-funded enterprises stood at 970.26 billion yuan, an increase of 8.2%, accounting for 57.9% of the city’s total. And the proportion rose to 59% in August. From January to August, the total import-export value of private enterprises was 643.29 billion yuan, up by 11.5%.
The ASEAN remained Suzhou’s largest trading partner. Statistics show that in the first 8 months of this year, Suzhou’s imports and exports with the ASEAN members increased by 10.3% to 269.14 billion yuan, accounting for 16.1% of the city’s total, 0.2 percentage points higher than that in the same period last year. In addition, exports to Latin America and India increased by 14.2% and 20.4% respectively and imports from the Middle East rose by 17.6%.