HAIKOU, May 30. /TASS/. Hainan province became a leader among China's other regions in terms of foreign trade growth in the first four months of 2022. This was reported by the Hainan Daily newspaper.
According to the article, the provinces foreign trade volume amounted to 59.84 billion yuan (about $ 8.9 billion) from January to April this year, up 68.8% over the same period last year. Tian Tao, deputy head of Haikou Customs, said this result was difficult to achieve in the face of the pandemic, the country's restrictions, rising commodity and logistics prices, and global uncertainty factors.
The province's foreign trade volume reached 16.47 billion yuan (about $2.45 billion) in April, up 80.2% year on year. The figure was a record for the past five months. Exports rose 137.4% year on year to 4.96 billion yuan (about $738.1 million), the highest in a single month since January 2021. Imports in April increased 63.2% to 11.51 billion yuan (about $1.7 billion).
Trade turnover structure
According to the Customs Office, 17 cities in Hainan conducted foreign trade transactions in the first four months of this year. Danzhou was in the lead; its turnover totaled 27.33 billion yuan (about $4.07 billion), having increased by 95.6% in annual terms. Thus, this city accounted for 45.7% of the province's foreign trade turnover and contributed 54.8% to its growth.
Hainan's largest trading partners included the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (15.5%), EU countries (18.7%), participants of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (32.8%), as well as the countries of the One Belt, One Road Initiative (32.9%).
About 6 thousand companies engaged in foreign economic activities have been registered in Hainan since the beginning of the year, the newspaper notes, which is 144% more than in the same period last year. Meanwhile, 40 of the top 50 companies by volume of foreign economic transactions carried out in the first four months of this year are "debutants", as they did not have similar deliveries in the same period last year.
Consumer goods have become the main item of the province's import. Their share in the region's imports grew steadily, rising from 20% in 2017 to 50% this year. According to the publication, the increase in the number of international brands represented in Hainan's duty-free stores - their number has already exceeded 700 units - has also contributed to the positive dynamics.