Foreign trade conducted by the county level city of Taicang -- in East China's Jiangsu province -- experienced a growth spurt in the first 10 months of 2020 that seemed to wave aside the impact of COVID-19 and the China-US trade frictions, Taicang Daily reported on Dec 3.

Data from the Taicang Customs shows the value of the port city's foreign trade came in at 8.45 billion yuan ($1.29 billion) in the month of October, its highest level in the past 23 months. Exports accounted for 4.24 billion yuan, with a year-on-year rise of 17 percent and imports hit 4.21 billion yuan, up 15.8 percent.  

Over the past 10 months, exports of machinery and electronics products did well, worth 21.6 billion yuan, up 1.3 percent year-on-year.

In addition, private enterprises played a key role in stabilizing foreign trade during the period. Imports and exports from the sector rose by 8.7 percent to 23.56 billion yuan, accounting for 31.7 percent of the city's total trade in goods.

Exports of high-end tech products in the 10 months put in strong gains, coming in at 2.14 billion yuan, up 26.7 percent year-on-year.

Officials said the sound development in foreign trade was the result of a series of favorable policies, online trade fairs and innovative measures adopted in the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot area.