Trade between China's Xiamen, BRICS soars 57.3 pct in Q1

XIAMEN, April 18 (Xinhua) -- East China's coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian Province saw its foreign trade with BRICS countries jump 57.3 percent year on year to 24.77 billion yuan (about 3.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2023, local customs authorities have said.

The city's foreign trade with Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa accounted for 10.6 percent of its total import and export value during the period.

BRICS is the acronym for an emerging-market group that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Xiamen was the host city of the ninth BRICS Summit in 2017.

During the first three months of this year, Xiamen's exports to BRICS countries amounted to 7.27 billion yuan, up 27.9 percent year on year, and its imports from BRICS countries totaled 17.5 billion yuan, up 74 percent.

The city's major imported goods from BRICS countries during the period included coal, lignite, metal ore, mineral sands and agricultural products.

Its main exports to BRICS countries included mechanical products, electrical products and labor-intensive goods. Notably, its automobile exports to BRICS countries during the period skyrocketed 109 times to 540 million yuan.