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East China's Zhejiang Province reported robust foreign trade growth in the first half of 2023, with the private sector contributing 79.7 percent of total trade, local customs authorities said on Thursday.

According to Hangzhou Customs, Zhejiang's imports and exports grew 4.7 percent year on year to 2.36 trillion yuan (about 330.23 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-June period.

During this period, the foreign trade of the province's private sector reached 1.88 trillion yuan, up 8.4 percent year on year.

From January to June, Zhejiang witnessed rapid growth in imports and exports to emerging markets of ASEAN, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa, accounting for 43 percent of the province's total import and export value and marking a 3-percentage-point increase compared to the previous year, according to customs authorities.

Remarkably, the province's trade with countries along the Belt and Road amounted to 911.65 billion yuan in H1, a year-on-year growth of 13.7 percent, accounting for 38.6 percent of the province's total trade value.

Additionally, its trade with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries amounted to 575.78 billion yuan during the same period, showing a growth of 3.6 percent.