Over the first two months of this year, Yiwu city in East China's Zhejiang province reported a foreign trade volume of 49.87 billion yuan ($7.62 billion), up 36.7 percent from the previous year, and accounting for 8.7 percent of the provincial aggregate, according to the latest statistics from the Yiwu customs office.

Yiwu's exports rose by 35.8 percent year-on-year to 47.57 billion yuan, making up 11.2 percent of the provincial aggregate, while its imports surged 57.6 percent to 2.3 billion yuan, accounting for 1.6 percent of the provincial aggregate.

The city's substantial growth in foreign trade over the period is particularly reflected in its major trading partners, market procurement trade and China-Europe freight train service, exportation of machinery and electronic products, as well as imports of consumer products.

Between January and February, trade volume between Yiwu and Africa, ASEAN, and the European Union was 10.77 billion yuan, 5.13 billion yuan, and 4.84 billion yuan, up 17.9 percent, 72.1 percent, and 39.7 percent year-on-year respectively.

Trade volume between Yiwu and the United States, Japan, and South Korea was 4.27 billion yuan, 560 million yuan, and 410 million yuan, a year-on-year growth of 72.6 percent, 98.3 percent, and 53.9 percent respectively.

As much as 79.5 percent of Yiwu's Jan-Feb exports, which were valued at 37.84 billion yuan, was conducted in the market procurement trade mode, which features quick customs clearance, convenience and value-added tax exemption.

The total value of cargo which was transported through the city's China-Europe freight train service between January and February soared by 177.8 percent year-on-year to 4.72 billion yuan.

The 2,000th Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe freight train journey is celebrated before departure. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The city's exported machinery and electronic products over the period were valued at 18.03 billion yuan, up 47.5 percent from the previous year, making up 37.9 percent of the city's total exports. Some 1.5-billion-yuan worth of high-tech products were exported in the same period, up 165 percent year-on-year.

The city's imported consumer products surged 56.2 percent to 2.02 billion yuan, accounting for 87.9 percent of the city's total imports.