(Yicai) Feb. 2 -- Anhui province climbed the rankings to become the 10th largest Chinese provincial-level region in terms of foreign trade last year, thanks to a big boost from the Belt and Road Initiative and car exports.

Anhui’s foreign trade soared 7.8 percent last year from the year before, remaining the fastest-grower in the Yangtze River Delta Regions and central China and achieving an increase 7.6 percentage points higher than the national average, according to data released by the Anhui Bureau of Statistics on Jan. 26.

Imports and exports rose 1.8 percent and 11.3 percent, up 10.7 percentage points and 2.1 percentage points, respectively, compared with the national average, the data also showed.

Anhui’s foreign trade with members of the BRI jumped 20 percent to CNY410.5 billion (USD57.8 billion) in the period, accounting for 51 percent of the total.

Seventy percent of Anhui’s exports were mechanical and electrical products last year, up 20.6 percent from the previous year. Among them, automobile exports soared 118 percent to CNY71.5 billion (USD10.1 billion).

Meanwhile, Southern Guangdong province remained China’s larger provincial-level region in terms of foreign trade, which rose 0.3 percent to a new record high of CNY8.3 trillion (USD1.2 trillion) last year. Imports fell 3.6 percent to CNY2.9 trillion, while exports rose 2.5 percent to CNY5.4 trillion.

Jiangsu province secured the second place even though its foreign trade fell 3.2 percent to CNY5.25 trillion. However, the gap between the eastern province and its neighboring Zhejiang province has been narrowing in recent years.

Zhejiang’s foreign trade rose 4.6 percent to CNY4.9 trillion last year from the previous one. Its imports and exports jumped 6.7 percent and 3.9 percent in the period, up 3.3 percentage points and 7 percentage points, respectively, from the national average.

China’s Top 10 Cities by Foreign Trade

The ranking of China’s top 10 cities by foreign trade also did not change much. Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing continued to rank first to third. The only change was Hangzhou, which moved from the 13th to 10th spot.

Hangzhou in Zhejiang province reported CNY803 billion in foreign trade last year, up 6.1 percent from a year earlier. Imports and exports rose 3.7 percent and 11.3 percent to CNY533.9 billion and CNY269.1 billion, respectively.

Jinhua, another city in Zhejiang province, saw its foreign trade soar 12.6 percent in the period, climbing to the 12th spot from the 15th. Imports jumped 20.9 percent, and exports rose 11.3 percent.

Hangzhou and Jinhua have many private enterprises with great flexibility. Hangzhou had 17,000 foreign trade companies last year, up 9.1 percent from a year earlier. Some 15,000 of them were private firms. Jinhua had 16,000 foreign trade companies, over 15,000 of which were private.

Editor: Futura Costaglione