According to statistics from Taiyuan Customs, from January to April this year, the import and export value of goods in North China's Shanxi province reached 61.36 billion yuan ($8.48 billion), an increase of 29.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

Specifically, during the four-month period, the province's processing trade value reached 30.45 billion yuan, a 44.2 percent increase and accounting for 49.6 percent of the total foreign trade value of the province, while the general trade value reached 29.48 billion yuan, an increase of 13.1 percent and accounting for 48 percent of the total.

Furthermore, the imports and exports of foreign-invested enterprises reached 25.45 billion yuan, a 45.4 percent increase and accounting for 41.5 percent of the total foreign trade value of the province; the imports and exports of private enterprises reached 18.77 billion yuan, an 18.6 percent increase and accounting for 30.6 percent of the total; and the imports and exports of State-owned enterprises reached 17.1 billion yuan, up 22.3 percent and accounting for 27.9 percent of the total.

At the same time, all major trade markets saw double-digit growth, and the trade value yielded from countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative increased significantly. Mobile phones, mobile phone parts, rail transit equipment, solar cells, and coal were the main engines driving export growth.