Photo taken on Nov. 15, 2021 shows the construction site of Greenland Center in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. Construction on Wuhan Greenland Center, a skyscraper project, has come to the final stage. Photo: Xinhua

Provincial government of Central China's Hubei, where Wuhan is located, on Monday released foreign trade figures for the province in 2021, revealing 537.44 billion yuan ($84.74 billion) of import and export value, a year-on-year increase of 24.8 percent, a new historic high.

Hubei's foreign trade figure saw a 36.2 percent rise over 2019 levels, although the province and its capital Wuhan had been hit by the first outbreak of COVID-19 in China at the end of 2019.

Hubei's foreign trade with its major partners rose across the board in 2021. Hubei's trade value with its top three partners of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the US and the European Union (EU) hit 74.37 billion yuan, 72.16 billion yuan and 69.45 billion yuan respectively. 

Hubei's trade value with the countries along the Belt and Road Initiative in 2021 reached 143.6 billion yuan. Trade value with emerging markets in Latin America and Africa in 2021 saw a respective year-on-year increase of 64.5 percent and 38.2 percent.

Its trade with Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries stood at 160.18 billion yuan in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 19.1 percent, accounting for 29.8 percent of the province's overall foreign trade value. 

In 2021, Wuhan Customs issued 37,100 certificates of origin under RCEP agreements and approved cargo imports with a total value of $3.38 billion, year-on-year increases of 26 percent and 68 percent, respectively.  

Since the RCEP taking effect from January 1, 2022, Wuhan Customs has issued 103 certificates of origin for cargo with a total value of $7.48 million and had removed tariffs worth 2.37 million yuan as of January 16, 2022.

Global Times