NW China Gansu's trade with B&R countries down 23.1 pct in Jan.-May

BEIJING, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Gansu province saw its trade with countries involving in the Belt and Road Initiative down 23.1 percent year on year to 6.15 billion yuan in the first five months, according to statistics from local customs authority.
During the period, the province's foreign trade stood at 14.44 billion yuan, down 11.4 percent year on year. In May, the total import and export value of the province was 2.71 billion yuan, falling 30.5 percent year on year.
Kazakhstan remained the largest trading partner of Gansu. In the first five months, Gansu's trade with Kazakhstan amounted to 2.36 billion yuan, up 5.9 percent year on year and accounting for 16.5 percent of the province's total foreign trade.
The province witnessed growth in processing-related foreign trade. Its imports and exports regarding processing trade in the January-May period increased 5.9 percent year on year to 4.47 billion yuan, accounting for 31 percent of its total foreign trade.
Gansu's exports of agricultural products continued to grow. In the first five months, Gansu exported 860 million yuan of agricultural products, up 22.5 percent year on year. Specifically, the province's exports of vegetables went up 15.2 percent year on year to 120 million yuan, and the exports of fruit and vegetable juice rose 4.4 times to 97.97 million yuan.
In terms of imports, the province imported 1.09 billion yuan of nickel and cobalt materials, up 1.4 times year on year. Its imports of mechanical and electrical products reached 1.23 billion yuan, showing a year-on-year increase of 14.8 percent, while that of electrical and electronic products was 820 million yuan, surging 28.9 percent year on year. (Edited by Su Dan with Xinhua Silk Road, silviasu07@163.com)