Zhoushan in East China's Zhejiang province witnessed a 26.9 percent year-on-year increase in foreign trade in the first quarter of this year to 53.46 billion yuan. [Photo/WeChat account: china-zjftz]

Zhoushan in East China's Zhejiang province witnessed a 26.9 percent year-on-year increase in foreign trade in the first quarter of this year to 53.46 billion yuan ($8.24 billion), local media reported.

Exports surged 58.9 percent year-on-year to 20.05 billion yuan, ranking first in the province, while imports increased 13.2 percent to 33.41 billion yuan.

During the period, Zhoushan exported products worth 6.73 billion yuan and 2.95 billion yuan to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Latin America respectively, posting year-on-year increases of 560 percent and 25.9 percent, while it imported 6.44 billion yuan worth of products from Saudi Arabia, a year-on-year decrease of 26.2 percent and still Zhoushan's largest source of imports.

The city's trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative totaled 28.17 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.1 percent and accounting for 52.7 percent of its total foreign trade value.

Zhoushan exported 4.27 million metric tons of refined oil products worth 12.34 billion yuan, while it imported 6.5 million tons of crude oil worth 16.25 billion yuan.

The imports and exports of private sector companies in the city amounted to 33.94 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 45.9 percent and 19 percentage points higher than the overall growth in Zhoushan.

The foreign trade in comprehensive bonded zones in Zhoushan jumped 68 percent year-on-year to 7.81 billion yuan.