Nantong Customs officers talk with staff at a Nantong enterprise. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

The foreign trade of Nantong, a city in Jiangsu province, totaled 115.56 billion yuan ($15.96 billion) in the first four months of this year, up 3.9 percent from the previous year, according to Nantong Customs.

The figure represented 6.6 percent of Jiangsu's total foreign trade, placing the city fourth in the province.

In April alone, Nantong achieved a record high in both imports and exports, as well as in its foreign trade growth rate. The city's foreign trade in the month amounted to 31.27 billion yuan, a staggering increase of 20 percent year-on-year.

Local enterprises have been seizing the opportunities created by booming cross-border e-commerce. At the recently-concluded 135th session of the China Import and Export Fair, over 400 Nantong businesses set up more than 600 booths to showcase their products. In addition, over 100 local companies have attended 34 overseas exhibitions this year.

The strong development of major enterprises in Nantong has supported the continuous improvement of the city's foreign trade structure. In the Jan-April period, imports and exports in the city's bonded zones jumped 83.3 percent year-on-year to 6.57 billion yuan.

The exports of mechanical and electrical products, labor-intensive products, and chemicals remained high, accounting for 86 percent of the city's total exports.

Nantong saw high demand for a number of components, equipment and basic materials in the first four months, with its imports of liquefied natural gas and mechanical and electrical products expanding by 8.1 percent and 31 percent, respectively.