The Hangzhou Customs released on Oct 18 Zhejiang province's foreign trade report for the first three quarters of 2024, showing robust growth across exports and imports.

Zhejiang's total trade reached 3.93 trillion yuan ($546.33 billion), up 6.7 percent year-on-year, with exports totaling 2.91 trillion yuan, up 7.8 percent, and imports at 1.02 trillion yuan, up 3.5 percent. The province ranks third nationwide for total trade, second in exports, and fifth in imports, accounting for 12.2 percent, 15.7 percent, and 7.4 percent of the national totals, respectively.

Private enterprises led Zhejiang's trade, with 3.17 trillion yuan in total trade value, up 7.3 percent, contributing to over 80 percent of the province's total trade. Exports by private firms reached 2.48 trillion yuan, a growth of 8.4 percent, while imports hit 689.7 billion yuan, up 3.6 percent.

Zhejiang's trade with Europe and the United States reached 588.9 billion yuan and 552.3 billion yuan, up 5.6 percent and 13.1 percent respectively, marking a significant rebound compared to last year. Trade with ASEAN, Latin America, and Africa grew by 7.0 percent, 12.8 percent, and 5.8 percent, while trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative rose by 5.1 percent.

Key segments also showed strength, with market-purchase exports up 10.5 percent to 403.5 billion yuan and cross-border e-commerce exports soaring 23.9 percent to 258.1 billion yuan, both outpacing national growth rates and collectively boosting Zhejiang's export growth by 3.2 percentage points.