Taizhou in East China's Zhejiang province maintained a steady growth in foreign trade from January to November, data from local authorities shows.

Over the period, the city's import and export volume amounted to 156.45 billion yuan ($23 billion), up 11.3 percent year-on-year, as per the Taizhou Customs.

Its exports soared by 12.2 percent reaching 137.8 billion yuan while the imports increased 4.8 percent to 18.65 billion yuan.

As primary economic growth contributors, private businesses still take the lion's share of the Taizhou's foreign trade. Statistics show that the trade volume in the private sector expanded to 134.53 billion yuan over the period, up 14 percent year-on-year, 2.7 percent faster the city's average growth rate.

Mechanical and electrical products comprised the major exports in Taizhou and sustained a double-digit growth. Official statistics show that the export value of mechanical and electrical products increased 14.6 percent to 79.21 billion yuan over the period.

Meanwhile, the accumulative export value of the seven labor-intensive products including textiles, toys and furniture, stood at 28.16 billion yuan, an uptick of 8 percent.

Also it is notable that high-tech product exports grew by 24.7 percent in the city to 16.44 billion as of November this year, accounting for 11.9 percent of the total.

The European Union, the United States and the ASEAN still remain the top three largest trading partners for Taizhou.

A paranomic view of the Taizhou port in East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]