A view of a port in Qidong, a county-level city of Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/WeChat account: qidongfabu]

Qidong's imports and exports were valued at 15.11 billion yuan ($2.12 billion) from January to April, a year-on-year increase of 43.6 percent, according to Qidong Customs.

Exports were valued at 11.01 billion yuan, up 32.4 percent year-on-year, while imports were valued at 4.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year surge of 85.6 percent.

The city's trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative totaled 7.52 billion yuan, a 210 percent increase and accounting for 49.8 percent of the city's total.

Processing trade increased significantly, with imports and exports reaching 10.07 billion yuan, a 370 percent increase, showing a positive growth trend from January to April.

General trade imports and exports were valued at 5.02 billion yuan. The exports and imports of marine products amounted to 7 billion yuan and 3.42 billion yuan, respectively, increases of 20 percent and 530 percent, respectively, contributing a lot to overall import and export growth.

In addition, since the beginning of this year, Qidong Customs has issued 241 RCEP certificates of origin for 88.67 million yuan worth of goods, saving enterprises 1.04 million yuan in tariffs.