Gansu province's foreign trade showed robust growth in the first half of this year, with total trade value reaching 39.04 billion yuan ($5.77 billion), up 10.1 percent year-on-year. Exports rose to 9.82 billion yuan, up 14.7 percent, while imports increased 8.7 percent to 29.22 billion yuan.

Trade with major partners strengthened, with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative accounting for 27.07 billion yuan, a 1.2 percent increase, and 69.3 percent of the province's total trade. Trade with RCEP member countries surged 18.4 percent to 12 billion yuan, accounting for 30.7 percent of the total, underscoring vibrant regional economic cooperation.

The number of active foreign trade enterprises in Gansu rose to 787, up eight from last year and 55 from the first five months. State-owned enterprises led with 27.67 billion yuan in trade, contributing 70.9 percent of the total. Private enterprises saw a 4.1 percent growth to 11.12 billion yuan, while foreign-invested enterprises increased by 14.7 percent to 260 million yuan.

Notably, bonded logistics trade surged by 251.6 percent, becoming a new growth engine, while general trade remained dominant at 68.3 percent of the province's total.

Export highlights included a 47 percent increase in electric vehicles, photovoltaic products, and lithium batteries, totaling 300 million yuan. Agricultural exports grew to 1.71 billion yuan, up 5.2 percent, enhancing the global competitiveness of Gansu's "Ganwei" agricultural products.