SHIJIAZHUANG, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- North China's Hebei Province saw its foreign trade grow 22.4 percent year on year to 488 billion yuan (about 76.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the first 11 months of this year, according to the customs in the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang.
Of the total, the export volume was about 270.8 billion yuan, up 20.6 percent year on year, and the total import volume grew by 24.6 percent to about 217.3 billion yuan.
Trade with countries and regions along the Belt and Road amounted to around 140.3 billion yuan during the period, up 17.8 percent year on year.
Hebei is China's leading producer of iron and steel. Mechanical, electrical and steel products are its main export commodities.
From January to November, Hebei exported over 97 billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, an increase of 24.6 percent year on year.
During the period, Hebei imported around 6.9 million tonnes of soybeans, an increase of 3.2 percent year on year. Its imported natural gas reached 4.3 million tonnes, an increase of 1.8 times, while the import of crude oil fell by 52.6 percent year on year to about 1.8 million tonnes, and that of iron ore and its concentrate decreased by 16.5 percent to over 99.9 million tonnes. Enditem
