Yiwu in East China's Zhejiang province reported a foreign trade volume of 236.26 billion yuan ($36.55 billion) between January and August, up 18 percent from the previous year, and accounting for 9 percent of the provincial aggregate, according to the latest statistics from the Yiwu customs office.

Yiwu's exports rose 16 percent year-on-year to 223.21 billion yuan, making up 11.7 percent of the provincial aggregate, while its imports surged 68.9 percent to 13.05 billion yuan, accounting for 1.8 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, exports of machinery and electronic products, as well as imports of consumer products.

The trade volume between Yiwu and Africa, ASEAN, as well as the European Union was 48.46 billion yuan, 29.66 billion yuan, and 24.61 billion yuan, up 16 percent, 21.3 percent, and 24.4 percent year-on-year respectively.

The trade volume between Yiwu and the United States, Mexico, as well as Chile was 24.01 billion yuan, 7.02 billion yuan, and 7.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 12.3 percent, 98.1 percent, and 110.2 percent respectively.

As much as 78.7 percent of Yiwu's April exports, which were valued at 175.67 billion yuan, was conducted in the market procurement trade mode, which features quick customs clearance, as well as value-added tax exemption.

The total value of cargo transported through the city's China-Europe freight train service soared by 82.2 percent year-on-year to 21.41 billion yuan.

The city's exported machinery and electronic products were valued at 83.08 billion yuan, up 13 percent from the previous year, making up 37.2 percent of the city's total exports. A total of 9.04-billion-yuan worth of high-tech products were exported in the same period, up 152.3 percent year-on-year.

The city's imported consumer products surged 49 percent to 10.13 billion yuan, accounting for 77.6 percent of the city's total imports.