Suzhou’s foreign trade value in the first 8 months of this year totaled 1,739.61 billion yuan, an increase of 9.5% over the same period last year (similarly hereinafter), according to statistics released by Suzhou Customs on Sept. 21. Its exports expanded by 12.3% to 1,033.55 billion yuan while its imports grew by 5.6% to 706.06 billion yuan.
From January to August, the city’s import and export volume for general trade grew by 11.1% to 723.24 billion yuan, 1.6 percentage points higher than the city’s overall increase, accounting for 41.6% of the city’s total foreign trade value. Meanwhile, imports and exports of processing trade increased by 9.6% to 732.45 billion yuan, accounting for 42.1% of the city’s total. And imports and exports of bonded logistics reached 268.62 billion yuan, up by 4.6%.
During this period, the foreign trade volume of private enterprises increased by 21.3% to 538.56 billion yuan. The total import-export value of foreign-funded enterprises was 1,093.29 billion yuan, up by 3.4%, accounting for 62.8% of the city’s total, while the figure for state-owned enterprises stood at 107.75 billion yuan, an increase of 23.6%.
Statistics show that in the first 8 months of this year, Suzhou’s imports and exports with its main trade partners, i.e. the ASEAN, the EU, and the United States, accounted for 42.6% of the city’s total foreign trade value, increasing by 8.5%, 10.3% and 11.4% to 247.62 billion, 246.49 billion and 246.38 billion yuan respectively. In August, its imports and exports with these three trade partners rose by 14.2%, 13.6%, and 8.4% respectively.