The coastal city of Xiamen in East China's Fujian province posts a year-on-year import growth of 18.4 percent in the first two months of this year. [Photo/VCG]

Xiamen, eastern China's Fujian province saw its foreign trade volume exceed 90 billion yuan ($12.67 billion) in the first two months of this year, higher than both the national and provincial averages, according to statistics released by the city's commerce bureau.

Statistics showed that the city's imports grew by 18.4 percent year-on-year to nearly 47 billion yuan.

The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 has impacted the city's exports and imports in the short term, but companies in Xiamen are rising to the challenge during these unprecedented times.

A well-known Xiamen-based import and export company called Hongpengfa has implemented various measures, including the use of online communication tools and other cloud office systems, to maintain normal operations since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia, leading to growth in imports and exports in January and February this year. Its total foreign trade volume grew by 5 percent year-on-year to more than $17 million. 

Foreign trade service platforms and new business models are becoming the saving grace for exports by small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises in Xiamen.

In addition to the new business models, State-owned enterprises are now playing a leading role in promoting foreign trade in Xiamen, bringing in more than 32 billion yuan and driving the city's import and export growth up by 9 percentage points.

Additionally, the Xiamen government has rolled out a series of measures to accelerate imports and exports and is encouraging e-commerce firms to expand foreign trade. Fiscal policies were introduced by the city’s commerce bureau, with the aim of cutting taxes and administrative fees for small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises.