Jiangsu reports 7% year-on-year growth in foreign trade in 2024

Jiangsu province reported a year-on-year increase of 7% in foreign trade, setting a new historical high, the Nanjing Customs said on Thursday.

In terms of total volume, last year, Jiangsu recorded a total of 5.62 trillion yuan in imports and exports, accounting for 12.8% of the national total.

Jiangsu maintained a rapid growth in its foreign trade with emerging markets by recording 2.67 trillion yuan of imports and exports to the Belt and Road countries, up 10.8% year on year and accounting for 47.5% of the province's imports and exports, 905.4 billion yuan of imports and exports to ASEAN, an increase of 11.2% year on year, and 7.5% of exports to other BRICS countries.

In terms of incremental growth, Jiangsu maintained a year-on-year increase of 7% in foreign trade last year, with a growth scale of 370 billion yuan, which is 2 percentage points higher than the national growth rate.

From a quality perspective, Jiangsu continuously optimized and upgraded its import and export product structure. In 2024, Jiangsu recorded an export of 2.51 trillion yuan worth of mechanical and electrical products, an increase of 9.3%, accounting for 68.7% of the province's total exports.

Jiangsu recorded an increase of 5.3%, 7.3%, 59%, and 7.4% in exports of computers and their components, mobile phones, ships, and automotive parts.

“Jiangsu has recorded an annual growth rate of over 9% in the export and import of mechanical and electrical products, with high-tech products becoming the driving force of foreign trade. And the trend towards new quality, innovation and upgrading in trade becoming more significant, enabling the open economy powerhouse to show strong resilience and vitality in the face of increasing external unfavorable factors,” said Lyu Yonggang, the Deputy Director of the Economic Research Institute of Jiangsu Academy of Social Sciences.