A worker gets busy at a home textile plant in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

Nantong's exports of hi-tech products from January to November grew 1.3 percent year on year to 22.45 billion yuan ($3.21 billion), accounting for 14.4 percent of the city's total exports, statistics showed.

According to statistics released by the city's commerce bureau, its export volume of hi-tech products moved up from the eighth biggest in Jiangsu province in 2017 to the fifth this year.

The city's total foreign trade dropped 1.6 percent year on year to 228.8 billion yuan over the past 11 months, while the city still held fourth place in the province in terms of foreign trade.

Meanwhile, trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative increased 6.2 percent year on year. 

The city's total exports were valued at 155.55 billion yuan during the same period, a slight growth of 1.1 percent on the previous corresponding period.

Cloth, chemical products, electronics and electrical alliances, home textiles, machinery equipment, as well as shipping and marine engineering were the top six exports, accounting for 62.7 percent of the city's total exports from January to November.

Officials estimated that the city's foreign trade in the whole year of 2019 would drop slightly compared to last year, while exports would still maintain growth.