Cargos are transported on automatic vehicles at the automatic dock of the Qingdao port in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, on Jan. 14, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Jingang)
BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) -- China witnessed strong growth in trade with Belt and Road (B&R) countries in the first two months of this year, with the total trade volume hitting 1.92 trillion yuan (about 300 billion U.S. dollars), up 18.3 percent year on year, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.
The country imported 831.31 billion yuan worth of goods from B&R countries during the period, up 20.7 percent year on year, and its exports to these countries totaled 1.09 trillion yuan, representing an increase of 16.6 percent on a yearly basis.
The better-than-average growth in trade between China and B&R countries in the first two months of this year was a hard-won achievement against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of deglobalization and the bumpy global market, said Zhang Jianping with the research institute of China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC).
He added that the rapid growth also showed that the cooperation between China and partners under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has added new impetus to foreign trade, explored market potential and facilitated China's efforts on foreign trade market diversification.
In fact, the trade volme between China and B&R countries has increasingly expanded since China proposed the BRI eight years ago. Data showed that the commodity trade between China and B&R countries hit 11.6 trillion yuan in 2021, a record high in the past eight years, accounting for 29.7 percent in China's total foreign trade.
"There is still more potential to tap," said Zhang, suggesting that inistitutional cooperation should be underscored with an aim to build a free trade network covering all B&R countries and regions.
Zhang also noted that B&R partners could share the benefits of China's comsumption upgrade and market potential as the second largest consumption market around the world.
Meanwhile, the stable growth of Chinese economy will be a key catalyst for deeper cooperation with these partners, said Zhang.
(Edited by Li Shimeng with Xinhua Silk Road, lishimeng@xinhua.org)
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