Containers await shipping at a port in Xiamen, Fujian province. [Photo by Wang Xieyun/China Daily]

According to Xiamen Customs, the city's import and export value to Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership member countries in August alone reached 28.78 billion yuan ($4.45 billion), a record high.

Statistics show that from January to August, Xiamen's import and export value to RCEP member countries in January-August period totaled 200.65 billion yuan, up 24.6 percent year-on-year. Imports were worth 128.62 billion yuan, soaring 37.5 percent year-on-year, while exports amounted to 72.03 billion yuan, up 6.8 percent year-on-year.

In the January-August period, imports and exports by the city's State-owned companies to RCEP member countries soared 30.4 percent from the previous year to 81.1 billion yuan while that of foreign-invested companies and private companies amounted to 61.84 billion yuan and 57.67 billion yuan respectively, up 22.1 percent and 20.3 percent year-on-year.

Metal ore and ore sand, mechanical and electrical products, and agricultural products were the main imported commodities in the first eight months of this year, which accounted for a total of 63.1 percent of the total value of imports.

During the same period, mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products were the main export products of Xiamen to RCEP members, accounting for 68.4 percent of the total export value.