Northwest China's Gansu province recently reported a 49.4 percent year-on-year surge in the value of imports and exports in the first quarter to 19.47 billion yuan ($2.66 billion).

Exports were worth 4.14 billion yuan, up 45 percent, while imports came in at 15.33 billion yuan, a whopping 50.7 percent gain.

One standout feature of Gansu's foreign trade in Q1 was that the province's imports and exports with major trading partners maintained a strongly positive growth.

During the period, imports and exports to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative jumped 45.4 percent to 14.76 billion yuan, accounting for 75.8 percent of the province's total foreign trade.

In addition, private enterprises experienced stellar performances. In Q1, their imports and exports totaled 5.86 billion yuan. That was up a hefty 40.5 percent, accounting for 30.1 percent of the province's total import and export value.

In particular, Gansu's exports of electromechanical products, electric vehicles, photovoltaic products and lithium-ion battery products were impressive.

In Q1, the region exported 1.54-billion-yuan worth of electromechanical products alone, an increase of 15 percent. As well, it exported 120 million yuan of electric vehicles, photovoltaic products and lithium-ion battery products, growing by 13.6 times over the same period last year.