Jining in East China's Shandong province reported a record 67.87 billion yuan ($10.74 billion) in foreign trade imports and exports in 2021, up 24.6 percent from 2020, local authorities announced at a news conference held on Jan 25.

Last year, the city exported 48.54 billion yuan, a 25.8 percent increase from that in 2020, and the import value rose 21.6 percent to 19.33 billion yuan.

Its imports and exports kept a hefty growth each quarter last year. The quarterly imports and exports surpassed the 20 billion yuan mark for the first time ever from October to December.

There were 1,758 enterprises engaged in the imports and exports in Jining last year, up 10.8 percent from 2020.

Among them, private enterprises generated 52.45 billion yuan in imports and exports, an increase of 23.7 percent, which accounted for 77.3 percent of the city's total foreign trade volume.

During the same period, the imports and exports of foreign-funded enterprises and State-owned enterprises increased 23.5 percent and 41.3 percent, respectively.

ASEAN, the European Union and the United States were Jining's top three trade partners in 2021 with the trade volumes accounting for increases of 46.1percent, 31.1 percent and 58.4 percent, respectively. The combined volume accounted for 48.2 percent of the city's total.

In addition, Jining's trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and RCEP members rose 29.6 percent and 32.4 percent, respectively.

Mechanical and electrical products and labor-intensive products maintained the two major exports of Jining in 2021 with increases of 41.2 percent and 33.1 percent, respectively, and amounted to values of 19.44 billion yuan and 9.72 billion yuan. The two accounted for 40 percent and 20 percent of the city's total exports.

Meanwhile, imports of paper pulp, paper and related products increased by 19 percent to 9.85 billion yuan, and imports of rubber and coal increased by 41.5 percent and 393.9 percent, respectively, to 620 million yuan and 380 million yuan.