Taizhou's import and export volume amounts to 51.01 billion yuan ($7.85 billion) in the first quarter of this year. [Photo/taizhou.com.cn]

Taizhou's import and export volume amounted to 51.01 billion yuan ($7.85 billion) in the first quarter of this year, up 55.6 percent year-on-year, according to Taizhou Customs.

The amount ranked seventh in East China's Zhejiang province, while the growth rate topped the province over the period.

Specifically, the city's exports soared by 57.6 percent to 46.84 billion yuan, accounting for 7.6 percent of the province's total over the period.

Taizhou's trade with its major trading partners - the European Union (excluding the UK), the United States, Latin America, and ASEAN - saw robust growth.

Its exports to the aforementioned four economies registered growth of 41.5 percent, 72.3 percent, 72.4 percent, and 94.1 percent respectively, with a combined value of 28.68 billion yuan.

In addition, Taizhou saw its exports to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative expand 53.9 percent year-on-year to 14.78 billion yuan from January to March.

A year-on-year increase of 66.7 percent was seen in its exports to RCEP member states over the three-month period.

The exports from Taizhou were primarily mechanical and electrical products, as well as labor-intensive products, which were valued at 24.37 billion yuan and 11.25 billion yuan respectively.

The city's imports of resource commodities also reported significant growth. In the first quarter of the year, it imported 430 million yuan worth of copper and 130 million yuan worth of aluminum, up 29.6 percent and 25.6 percent respectively.