Tonghai Port Area of Nantong Port. [Photo provided by Xu Congjun to en.nantong.gov.cn]

Nantong in Jiangsu province recorded a total foreign trade value of 182.64 billion yuan ($27.02 billion) from January to May, reflecting a 10.4 percent increase year-on-year, according to statistics from Nantong Customs.

Both the scale and growth rate rank fourth in the province, accounting for 6.4 percent of the province's total import and export value.

During this period, Nantong's exports totaled 123.03 billion yuan, a rise of 12 percent, while its imports reached 59.61 billion yuan, up 7.2 percent.

In May alone, Nantong's imports and exports totaled 35.32 billion yuan, marking the fifth consecutive month of growth.

The city's trade with developed economies reached 16.36 billion yuan in May, up 11.4 percent. Trade with the EU was 6.23 billion yuan, up 12.1 percent, marking 15 consecutive months of growth, while trade with the United States surged to 2.79 billion yuan, up 44.2 percent.

In the first five months, exports of ships and electrical machinery in Nantong increased by 14.8 percent and 64.7 percent, respectively. These industries, with robust order books and full production capacity, are expected to continue stabilizing the city's foreign trade growth.

In May, imports of electromechanical products in Nantong totaled 3.81 billion yuan, up 20.2 percent. In addition, imports of basic organic chemicals were 1.37 billion yuan, up 10.6 percent; imports of edible oil, copper, and steel increased by 79.6 percent, 51.1 percent, and 23 percent, respectively.