BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Sichuan Province has achieved great results in economic and trade cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.
According to Sichuan Daily, the Province has already realized full coverage of economic and trade exchanges with Belt and Road (B&R) countries.
To be specific, Sichuan's goods imports and exports with B&R countries in the first quarter of this year rose by 9.8 percent year on year to 38.92 billion yuan, 6.1 percentage points higher than the national average and taking up 26.7 percent of the Province's total foreign trade in this period.
During this period, the Province had set up 262 enterprises in these countries, with Chinese investment totaling 4 billion U.S. dollars and involving manufacturing, wholesale and retail, business service and energy and water production and supply.
Besides, its newly-signed contracts with these countries valued 414 million U.S. dollars from January to March this year.
Its service exports to these countries have already accounted for over one-third of its total service exports.
Products featuring Sichuan characteristics like embroideries, lanterns and giant pandas keep gaining access to new market channels in B&R countries, a source with the provincial Department of Commerce said.
For instance, lantern firms from Zigong, a city in Sichuan, had held 78 exhibitions in 37 B&R countries and regions in 2018, reaping a sales revenue of 2 billion yuan, up 46 percent year on year.
So far this year, lantern firms from the city have already signed 41 exhibition orders with more than 20 B&R countries and regions. (Edited by Gu Shanshan)
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