In the first two months of 2020, the total foreign trade value in Zhoushan amounted to more than 28.4 billion yuan ($4.05 billion), a year-on-year increase of 85 percent, according to official data released by Zhoushan Customs on March 14.

Exports in the period reached a value of 7.92 billion yuan, up 30 percent year-on-year, while imports reached a value of 20.51 billion, up 120 percent year-on-year.

Officials said that the year-on-year growth rates of foreign trade, exports, and imports all ranked first among prefecture-level cities in Zhejiang province.

The China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) has contributed a lot to the growth of the city's foreign trade.

For example, in the first two months, petrochemical companies based in the Zhejiang FTZ imported more than 2.6 million metric tons of crude oil worth over 9 billion yuan.

In recent months, the Zhoushan bureau of commerce has implemented a series of incentive policies to stabilize the growth of foreign trade in the city amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, according to local authorities.

By the end of March 13, all 84 key foreign trade companies based in the city had resumed operations and are now operating at 95 percent capacity.

A "key" foreign trade company is one with more than 10 million yuan in annual exports.