China border province posts 36% trade growth in January

KUNMING - Yunnan, a border province in Southwest China, saw its foreign trade rise 35.8 percent year-on-year to 19.9 billion yuan ($3 billion) in January, said Kunming Customs Thursday.

Trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiaive accounted for about 70 percent of the total, with the value increasing by 18.7 percent to 13.9 billion yuan, the customs said.

Exports of machinery and electrical equipment surged 87.1 percent to 2.8 billion yuan, while exports of agricultural products jumped 49.5 percent to 2.3 billion yuan.

Despite robust growth in the broader trade, Yunnan witnessed a decline in imports of crude oil and natural gas.

The province imported 812,000 metric tons of crude oil and 315,000 tons of natural gas in January, down 8.7 percent and 2 percent, respectively.