Central China's Hunan sees robust foreign trade growth in Q1

The foreign trade value reached 179.38 billion yuan (about 26.07 billion U.S. dollars) in the province from January to March, up 58.3 percent year on year, Changsha Customs said Tuesday.

It added that the export value increased by 70.8 percent year on year to 125.59 billion yuan, while the import rose 35.2 percent year on year to 53.79 billion yuan.

In the first quarter of the year, Hunan established economic and trade exchanges with 222 countries and regions. The province's trade value with its major trading partners -- the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United States and the European Union -- reached 41.15 billion yuan, 18.95 billion yuan and 15.48 billion yuan, respectively, during this period.

Hunan's trade value with countries along the Belt and Road totaled 72.05 billion yuan, up 93.1 percent, accounting for 40.2 percent of the province's total foreign trade value, 7.2 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

The province's trade with the other members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership during the period totaled 60.74 billion yuan, an increase of 61.5 percent year on year.