In the first quarter of this year, Huai'an achieved a foreign trade import and export value of RMB 15.05 billion, an increase of 10.6% over the same period of last year. The export value was RMB 12.6 billion, an increase of 13.9% year-on-year.

In the first quarter, ASEAN and the European Union (EU) remained the top two trading partners of Huai' an. Specifically, trade with ASEAN was RMB 3.24 billion, up 28.5% year-on-year. Among them, exports amounted to RMB 2.95 billion, an increase of 47.4% year-on-year, and solar cells, printed circuit boards, steel cords, and other products increased by more than 50% year-on-year. Imports and exports to the EU amounted to RMB 2.47 billion, an increase of 16.5% year-on-year. Among them, exports amounted to RMB 2.23 billion, an increase of 19.5% year-on-year, and products such as solar cells, tires, and lithium batteries grew rapidly. Imports and exports to 17 countries in the Middle East amounted to RMB 820 million, an increase of 17.4% year-on-year, mainly for textiles and apparel, solar cells, and petroleum machinery. Imports and exports to Belt and Road countries amounted to RMB 8.11 billion, an increase of 27.8% year-on-year.

As a traditional advantageous industry in Huai'an City, mechanical and electrical products boasted remarkable export performance—the export amount reached RMB 7.39 billion in Q1, an increase of 11.5% year-on-year, and accounting for 58.7% of the total export value. Notably, the electronic information industry continued to maintain a vigorous trend, with exports of RMB 2.1 billion, an increase of 29.3% year-on-year; exports of automobile spare parts amounted to RMB 1.15 billion, an increase of 4.9% year-on-year. The exports of labor-intensive products amounted to RMB 2.42 billion, marking a year-on-year increase of 16.9%, with the exports of textile and apparel, plastic products, and furniture and furniture parts rising by 11%, 33.8%, and 23.7%, respectively. Chemical exports amounted to RMB 860 million, an increase of 7% year-on-year, showing a stable trend.

In the first quarter, there were 1,208 foreign trade enterprises with import and export performance in Huai'an, an increase of 142 year-on-year, and non-trade agency enterprises accounted for over 98% of the total. The number of foreign trade entities increased steadily, and their quality was better. The import and export value of private enterprises reached RMB 11.25 billion, an increase of 13.8% year-on-year, and the proportion of foreign trade increased by 2.2 percentage points to 74.8%. During the same period, the import and export of foreign-invested enterprises reached RMB 3.53 billion, an increase of 3.3% year-on-year.