A bird's-eye view of a ship full of containers sailing off the coast of Xiamen, Fujian province. [Photo/WeChat account: xiamen_swj]

Xiamen in East China's Fujian province reported that its foreign trade increased 27.7 percent from 2020 to 887.65 billion yuan ($139.79 billion) in 2021, setting a new record.

Statistics showed that Xiamen's imports and exports in 2021 reached 456.92 billion yuan and 430.73 billion yuan respectively, up 35.3 percent and 20.6 percent from 2020.

Statistics also showed that in 2021, the city's imports of foodstuff surged 73.3 percent from 2020 to 12.11 million tons and that of crude oil surged 504.2 percent to 2.73 million tons.

In 2021, the exports of mechanical and electrical products reached 191.68 billion yuan, up 14.6 from the previous year.

The city's vital private sector grew rapidly in 2021, with the sector's foreign trade growing 37.7 percent to 324.87 billion yuan, which accounted for 36.6 percent of the city's total foreign trade.

Statistics showed that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United States, and the European Union were Xiamen's top three trade partners in 2021. Their trade volumes with Xiamen grew by 25.2 percent, 25.7 percent, and 27.6 percent to 162.93 billion yuan, 113.29 billion yuan and 98.28 billion yuan, respectively.

In addition, Xiamen's trade with RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) members, countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, and BRICS countries increased by 22 percent, 28.7 percent, and 20.7 percent, respectively, in 2021.