Chongqing- Chongqing Customs recently announced that the total value of Chongqing’s foreign trade was 116.17 billion yuan (about 17.87 billion U.S. dollars) from January to February this year, an increase of 70.3% over the same period last year. Among them, exports were 72.26 billion yuan, an increase of 87.8%; imports were 43.91 billion yuan, an increase of 47.6%.

Chongqing's general trade import and export grew rapidly in the first two months. General trade imports and exports amounted to 41.4 billion yuan, an increase of 1.1 times, accounting for 35.6%, an increase of 6.3 percentage points.

"Chongqing's imports and exports with major trading partners have also maintained growth," said a competent official. Chongqing’s imports and exports to ASEAN, EU, US, and Taiwan were 18.82 billion yuan, 17.76 billion yuan, 16.47 billion yuan, and 10.34 billion yuan, respectively, an increase of 37.8%, 80.5%, 1.2 times, and 1.1 times in the first two months. In the same period, imports and exports to countries along the Belt and Road countries reached 31.58 billion yuan, an increase of 52.6%.

Based on the categories of exported goods, the “made in Chongqing” products, including electronics, automobiles, and motorcycles, performed especially well. In the first two months, laptops and mobile phones' export value was 28.21 billion yuan and 4.41 billion yuan, an increase of 1.2 times and 6.2 times, respectively.

According to the person in charge, Chongqing's foreign trade showed a positive trend in the first two months of the year due to two reasons. 

First, the consumption boom in European and American countries has rebounded, where the external demand has driven export growth. Chongqing’s exports of electronic equipment to the United States and the European Union increased by 1.5 times, reaching 73.5% in the first two months, and the total export value accounted for 46.6% of the total export value of electronic equipment manufacturers in the same period.

Second, Chongqing’s foreign trade affected by the epidemic dropped 18.3% year-on-year in the first two months of last year. Its low base also serves as one reason for the large increase in foreign trade in the first two months of this year.