PRIVATE enterprises have emerged as a vital driving force in stabilizing Shenzhen’s foreign trade, recording an impressive 11.1% increase year on year for the first seven months this year, official data showed Tuesday.

From January to July, foreign trade generated by private firms amounted to 1.3 trillion yuan (US$178 billion), while the city’s imports and exports totaled 2.01 trillion yuan.

Private firms boosted the city’s overall growth in foreign trade by 6.8 percentage points, Shenzhen Customs said.

Foreign-invested firms and State-owned firms achieved 585.94 billion yuan and 120.96 billion yuan in foreign trade, respectively.

Compared to the same period last year, the city’s foreign trade went up by 5%, outpacing the national and Guangdong provincial levels. Exports amounted to 1.25 trillion yuan, posting a growth rate of 15.3%, while imports reached 751.87 billion yuan.

The performance met expectations, the customs said. In July alone, the total import and export volume reached 330.36 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.4%. Exports amounted to 207.1 billion yuan, growing by 20%, while imports reached 123.26 billion yuan, up 1.7%.

From January to July, Shenzhen’s top four trading partners were Hong Kong, ASEAN countries, the EU and the U.S. The foreign trade volume with the four partners accounted for 53.1% of the city’s total.

Trade with India, Australia and the U.K. soared by 37.9%, 51.9%, and 18.9%, respectively.

Additionally, imports and exports with members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) posted a year-on-year increase of 2.3%, accounting for 26.5% of the city’s total, while that with Belt and Road countries went up by 16%, accounting for 25.4%.

In terms of product breakdown, electromechanical products accounted for over 70% of the city’s total exports. Exports of lithium-ion batteries and electric passenger vehicles grew by 29.8% and 786.1%, respectively.

In imports, electromechanical products accounted for over three-quarters of Shenzhen’s total in the first seven months.

(Zhang Yu, Chen Yuying)