A worker is busy at a building equipment factory in Hai'an, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province on March 30. [Photo/CFP]

The Nantong branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade issued 21,195 certificates of origin in the first half of this year, a 22.15 percent increase compared with the same period in 2020, according to the city's commerce bureau.

Statistics show that the number of non-preferential certificates of origin that Nantong has issued this year saw an unexpected rebound after a year-by-year decline since 2018.

During the first six months of this year, the Nantong council issued 12,440 non-preferential certificates of origin that involved exported goods worth 965.53 million yuan ($149.08 million), up 18.37 percent and 24.35 percent year-on-year respectively.

The number of issued copies is 9.25 percent higher than that in 2019.

India was still first among the top 10 countries where the non-preferential certificates were used, while Kuwait made the top 10 list for the first time, increasing the proportion of such certificates for Middle Eastern countries to 18.89 percent.

Meanwhile, a total of 5,698 preferential certificates of origin involving exported goods worth 248.46 million yuan were issued, up 35.28 percent and 28.41 percent year-on-year respectively.

The number under China's free trade agreements with Chile, New Zealand, Peru, and Switzerland increased by 110.77 percent, 109.52 percent, 57.28 percent, as well as 47.69 percent respectively.

In addition, the number of China-ASEAN free trade certificates of origin has maintained double-digit growth since it was introduced in 2019.

Starting July 1, Thailand has allowed the use of electronic certificates of origin, following Indonesia and Singapore. This will increase convenience for exporters in Nantong. It will also inject new vitality to the city's import and export trade with ASEAN countries, officials said.