Foreign trade in Taicang, a county-level city within Suzhou, Jiangsu province, amounts to 22.74 billion yuan ($3.38 billion) in the first three months of 2019. [Photo/IC]

Foreign trade in Taicang, a county-level city in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, amounted to 22.74 billion yuan ($3.38 billion) in the first three months of 2019, statistics from Taicang Customs showed.

During this period, exports stood at 10.43 billion yuan while imports valued 12.31 billion yuan.

From January to March, the import and export value of private businesses in the city totaled 5.58 billion yuan, a 2.5 percent year-on-year increase, while state-owned companies saw an 8.4 percent year-on-year increase in foreign trade volume to 170 million yuan.

The import and export value of foreign-invested companies in the city reached 16.4 billion yuan during the same period, taking up 72.1 percent of the overall foreign trade volume.

Statistics showed that Taicang's trade with Asian markets clearly outpaced its trade with European and American markets.

In the first quarter of this year, imports from members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) jumped 28.4 percent year-on-year to 4.06 billion yuan, while those from South Korea surged 14.2 percent year-on-year to 440 million yuan.

Since last year, the monthly foreign trade volume in Taicang has surpassed 7.5 billion yuan, according to a spokesman for Taicang Customs.

He also said that starting this year, China has implemented policies to cut taxes and administrative fees, which will help ensure the steady growth of the city's foreign trade.