Xiamen Port is one of four major international shipping centers in China. It has 92 international container shipping routes. [Photo/VCG]

The private sector in East China's Fujian province recorded 534.83 billion ($76 billion) yuan in foreign trade in the first 10 months of this year, an increase of 12.6 percent year-on-year, according to Xiamen customs.

Imports and exports were valued at a total of 51.79 billion yuan in October, a year-on-year increase of 18.4 percent and accounting for 46.9 percent of Fujian's total foreign trade, up 2.8 percentage points from the year ago. Exports accounted for 38.62 billion yuan, up 17.5 percent, while imports were valued at 13.17 billion yuan, up 21.2 percent.

The ASEAN remained Fujian's largest trading partner in October this year, with trade up 23.4 percent from the previous period, totaling 12.13 billion yuan. Its next largest trading partner was the EU, with trade up 13.8 percent to 7.14 billion yuan, and the US, which saw a 9.7 percent decline in trade to 6.11 billion yuan.

In October, general trade among private enterprises in Fujian rose 11.6 percent year-on-year to 44.26 billion yuan, accounting for 86.2 percent of all general trade in the province. Processing trade within the province saw an increase of 34.1 percent to 3.81 billion yuan. 

Data also indicated that labor-intensive products, along with mechanical and electrical products, made up a higher portion of Fujian's exports in October. Labor-intensive products were valued at 17.77 billion yuan (up 22.9 percent year on year), while mechanical and electrical products were valued at 9.38 billion yuan (up 24.8 percent year on year).