Han Ximin

ximhan@126.com

THE city’s trade with Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) reached 15.1 billion yuan (US$2.3 billion) in the first quarter (Q1) of the year, up by 63.4 percent year on year and by 20.7 percent over the same period in 2019, statistics from Shenzhen Customs showed.

Exports reached 13.6 billion yuan, up by 68.2 percent, and imports increased by 1.49 billion yuan, up by 29.6 percent.

With the economic recovery of CEECs, Shenzhen’s trade with these countries has seen positive growth. Trade with Slovakia, Lithuania and Albania greatly increased, while trade with major trade partners like Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic saw an increase of 73.6 percent, 51.5 percent and 41.8 percent, respectively.

The Sino-European trains play an important role in international trade. In Q1, Shenzhen’s rail freight trade with CEECs reached 1.75 billion yuan, up 145.4 percent, accounting for 11.6 percent of the total trade with the bloc.