Hebei's foreign trade up 6.3% in Jan-July period

SHIJIAZHUANG - Foreign trade in North China's Hebei province rose by 6.3 percent year-on-year to more than 231 billion yuan ($33.4 billion) in the first seven months, customs statistics showed.

Among the trade, exports totaled nearly 131.9 billion yuan, up by 1 percent year-on-year. Imports totaled about 99.2 billion yuan, up by 14.3 percent, according to Shijiazhuang customs.

From January to July, Hebei's general foreign trade reached almost 200.6 billion yuan, up 5.8 percent year-on-year and accounting for 86.8 percent of the total import and export value.

Exports of electronic components, agricultural products, pharmaceutical materials and medicines maintained fast growth from January to July.

The province exported 46.35 billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products during the period, up 5.2 percent from a year ago, while exports of electronic components, agricultural products as well as pharmaceutical materials and medicines rose 17.9 percent, 13.2 percent and 20.7 percent, respectively.

The province also registered strong growth in imports of iron ore, crude oil and agricultural products in the January-July period.