On January 16th, the reporter learned from Yichang Customs that the total import and export value of the city's foreign trade in 2018 was 20.1 billion yuan, an increase of 9.3% over 2017, out of which, the export value was 17.48 billion yuan, an increase of 9.9%, and the import value was 2.62 billion yuan, an increase of 5.6%.

　　In 2018, the foreign trade in our city was basically stable, and the total import and export value of foreign trade was growing in 80% of counties and districts. Among them, the total value of Wufeng Tujia Nationality Autonomous County, Changyang Tujia Nationality Autonomous County, Xingshan County and Zhijiang City increased by more than 20%, with an increase of 1.8 times, 43.7%, 30.3% and 24.3% respectively.

　　In 2018, the city's foreign import and export trade mainly showed the following characteristics:

　　Increase in the proportion of general trade.

　　In 2018, the city's import and export value by means of general trade was 15.9 billion yuan, an increase of 9.9%, accounting for 79.1% of the city's total foreign trade, an increase of 0.4 percentage over the same period last year. Specifically, exports were 14.4 billion yuan and imports were 1.5 billion yuan. In the same period, the imports and exports of processing trade was 3.87 billion yuan.

　　In addition, the city's imports and exports in way of bonded supervision places was 310 million yuan, an increase of 2.7 times, out of which, exports increased by 2.6 times, imports increased by 2.8 times.

　　Private Enterprises are in Rapid Growth

　　In 2018, the import and export of all types of enterprises in the city maintained a good growth momentum, especially for private enterprises, the import and export volume was 10.13 billion yuan, an increase of 5%, accounting for 50.4% of the city's total foreign trade. To be specific, exports was 8.83 billion yuan, an increase of 4.6%; imports were 1.3 billion yuan, an increase of 8%. In the same period, the imports and exports of state-owned enterprises was 6.02 billion yuan, an increase of 10.4%; the imports and exports of foreign-invested enterprises was 3.94 billion yuan, an increase of 20%.

　　Deeper cooperation with trade partners

　　In 2018, the total value of exports and imports of Yichang to the top five trade partners ( ASEAN, US, EU, Indian, and Japan) accounted for 60% of the Yichang’s total foreign trade with a sound growth momentum of multilateral ties. Among them, the total trade with ASEAN was the highest, reaching 2.91 billion yuan, an increase of 0.5% while the total trade with India increasing the fastest, reaching 2.46 billion yuan, an increase of 61.9%.

　　The total imports and exports volume of the countries alongside “the Belt and Road Initiative” was 8.86 billion yuan, an increase of 15.8%, accounting for 44.1% of the total import and export volume of Yichang.

　　Steady growth of exports of high value-added products

　　The exports of high value-added products grew steadily in Yichang last year. The exports of mechanical and electrical products were 3.03 billion yuan, an increase of 6.4%, accounting for 17.3% of the city's total export value; the exports of pharmaceuticals amounted to 1.29 billion yuan, an increase of 8.5%. Among the single export commodities, the export of organic phosphorus derivatives was 830 million yuan, an increase of 49.2%; the export of electrical conductors was 400 million yuan, an increase of 80.8%.

　　As for traditional superior industries, the export of labor-intensive industries reached 1.38 billion yuan which increased 33.1% and the export of agricultural products was 1.89 billion yuan.

　　The dramatic increase of the import of high-tech products

　　In 2018, the main imports of Yichang were new and high technology products, mechanical and electrical products, agricultural products and consumer goods. Among them, the imported new and high technology products got the largest increase, reaching 33.5%, followed by agricultural products, increasing by 27%.

　　In terms of individual commodities, the imports value of sulphur, copper wire, uncombed cotton, non-backing aluminum foil and LCD panels ranked top five, accounting for 51.1% of the total import value of Yichang. Among them, the import of copper wire was 290 million yuan while LCD panels was 190 million yuan, both of which increased by more than half. (Reporter: Yang Jing; Correspondent: Sun Furong)