Belt, Road markets drive strong growth in exports, imports

The markets involved in the Belt and Road Initiative provided a strong boost to China's trade performance in the first four months of 2019, official data showed on Thursday.

Customs data from January to April showed China's import and export volume reached 9.51 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion), up 4.3 percent year-on-year. Exports accounted for 5.06 trillion yuan, rising by 5.7 percent year-on-year, while imports reached 4.45 trillion yuan, a 2.9 percent yearly increase.

"The trade performance in the first four months demonstrated a diversified international market and the economies involved in the BRI has showed (a) strong push to the import and export (sectors)," said Gao Feng, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce.