Customs officials examine products in Taizhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: tzfb001]

Taizhou's import and export volume was valued at 66.57 billion yuan ($10.24 billion) in the first quarter of this year, according to Taizhou Customs.

The figure represents an uptick of 67.9 percent over the same period in 2019.

Specifically, the city's exports surged 29.8 percent to 60.61 billion yuan, while its imports stood at 5.96 billion yuan, up 42.9 percent year-on-year.

Taizhou's trade volume with the European Union, the United States, and ASEAN saw robust growth from January to March. Its trade volume with these three economies expanded by 37.2 percent, 24.8 percent and 33.5 percent respectively, and had a combined trade value of 34.19 billion yuan, or 51.4 percent of the city's total, over the period.

In addition, Taizhou's exports to RCEP member states rose 37.2 percent year-on-year to 9.74 billion yuan, while its imports from these countries totaled 3.21 billion yuan. The top three export destinations were Thailand, Japan and Australia, while the top three source of imports were Japan, Malaysia and South Korea.

New trade models have become an engine fueling the city's foreign trade growth.

In the first quarter of this year, Taizhou's imports and exports via processing trade pattern amounted to 6.64 billion yuan, up 61.1 percent year-on-year, while its exports through the market procurement model surged 170 percent to 4.01 billion yuan.

Cai Rongjuan, an official at Taizhou Customs, said that Taizhou's sustained growth in foreign trade can be attributed to factors including China's strong economic resilience as well as the rising prices of exports on the back of a surge in bulk commodity prices.