Foreign trade in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, grew by 21.6 percent last year, the fastest in the province, local media reported on Jan 22.

Total foreign trade in the city was valued at 166.73 billion yuan ($25.72 billion) in 2020, accounting for 4.9 percent of the provincial total.

Exports from Zhoushan jumped 17.4 percent year-on-year to 58.81 billion yuan, while imports soared 24 percent year-on-year to 107.92 billion yuan last year, accounting for 2.3 percent and 12.5 percent of the provincial totals, respectively.

Private companies were the largest contributor to Zhoushan's foreign trade, as they traded 97.01 billion yuan with overseas clients, a year-on-year increase of 66.4 percent, and accounted for 58.2 percent of Zhoushan's total.

Imports by private companies surged 89.8 percent to 74.37 billion yuan, while their exports increased 18.3 percent to 22.74 billion yuan.

The Zhoushan area of the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone witnessed 46.3 percent year-on-year growth in foreign trade last year, reaching 114.36 billion yuan.

In addition, exports of mechanical equipment in the city also experienced a tremendous increase last year when the city exported 19.01 billion yuan in mechanical equipment, a 71.28 percent year-on-year increase and contributing 5.8 percentage points to foreign trade growth in the city.

Foreign trade in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, experiences the fastest growth in the province last year. [Photo/WeChat account: china-zjftz]