A panoramic view of Xiamen. [Photo/Xiamen Daily]

Xiamen, a coastal city located in East China's Fujian province, saw the value of its foreign trade grow by 13.1 percent year-on-year to 233.41 billion yuan ($33.9 billion) in the first quarter of this year, according to the local customs office.

Of that, the city's imports rose by 23.8 percent to 125.46 billion yuan, while exports increased by 2.7 percent to 107.95 billion yuan.

Private enterprises remained the main driver of Xiamen's foreign trade in Q1, with their imports and exports totaling 103.2 billion yuan, up 31.4 percent year-on-year and accounting for 44.2 percent of the city's total.

Electromechanical products and labor-intensive products were the mainstay of Xiamen's exports, hitting 56.69 billion yuan and 26.5 billion yuan respectively – accounting for 52.5 percent and 24.5 percent of the city's total export value.

Xiamen's imports in Q1 mainly comprised metal ore, agricultural products and electromechanical products, which generated 27.63 billion yuan, 21.35 billion yuan and 18.68 billion yuan respectively – accounting for 22 percent, 17 percent and 14.9 percent of the total value of imports.

Xiamen's top three trading partners were the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union and the United States, with their bilateral trade worth 43.42 billion yuan, 33.71 billion yuan and 26.58 billion yuan – up 18.6 percent, 14.4 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively.

The city also saw robust trade growth with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. There, imports and exports generated 92.91 billion yuan, up 35 percent year-on-year.