North China's Shanxi province's foreign trade continued its strong performance in the first seven months of 2024, with the value of its imports and exports reaching 101.2 billion yuan ($14.15 billion), a year-on-year increase of 14.7 percent, placing the province fourth among all Chinese provinces.

The number of active enterprises in the province's foreign trade sector continued to increase. In the first seven months, the number of companies with import and export records increased by 108, or 6.9 percent, reaching a total of 1,668.

ASEAN remained Shanxi's largest trading partner, with the value of trade between the two regions increasing by 17.2 percent in the first seven months. Trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative reached 47.52 billion yuan, a 23.6 percent increase and accounting for 47 percent of the province's total imports and exports. Trade with RCEP member countries totaled 32.53 billion yuan, a 12.3 percent increase and accounting for 32.1 percent of the total.

Exports of mobile phones and components played a significant role in driving the province's export growth, contributing 6.7 percentage points to the overall increase. Steel exports also saw strong growth of 15.6 percent, contributing 1.4 percentage points. Additionally, solar cells, textiles, and coal exports experienced significant increases, together contributing 2.4 percentage points to total growth.

Metal ores, coal and soybeans were the main drivers of import growth. Metal ore imports reached 14.18 billion yuan, a 74.9-percent increase. This accounted for 35.3 percent of the total value of the province's imports and contributed 17.9 percentage points to overall import growth.