In the first quarter of this year, the total value of the foreign trade in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region reached 45.62 billion yuan ($6.56 billion), a year-on-year increase of 50.5 percent and 45.7 percentage points higher than the national foreign trade growth rate.

This is according to a press conference on the region's foreign trade, held in its capital city, Hohhot, on April 19.

At the press conference, Hohhot Customs reported that there are three main factors that impacted the growth of Inner Mongolia's imports and exports during this three-month period.

First, the substantial growth in the export of mechanical and electrical products played a strong role in supporting the region's export volume.

Mechanical and electrical products such as automobiles, mechanical equipment, and electrical equipment became the main force of exports from January to March, with an export value of 5.93 billion yuan. It saw a year-on-year increase of 161.2 percent and accounted for 34.2 percent of the region's export value.

Second, the recovery of the region's economy stimulated the demand for mineral energy products.

In the first quarter, the import of coal, copper ore, crude oil and other minerals used to produce energy products in the region increased by 388.9 percent, 33.2 percent and 18.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Third, the import and export of goods by private enterprises and State-owned enterprises in the region showed a growth trend.

From January to March, there were 1,888 foreign trade enterprises that participated in import and export activities within the region, an increase of 365 over the same period last year.

Among them, private enterprises recorded their import and export value at 35.62 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 73.6 percent. State-owned enterprises recorded their import and export value at 7.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3 percent.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past 10 years, the proportion of imports and exports between Inner Mongolia and countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative increased from 57.9 percent in 2013 to 61.4 percent in 2022.

In the first quarter of this year, the growth rate of Inner Mongolia's imports and exports to these countries was 38.1 percentage points higher than its overall regional foreign trade growth rate. 

Among them, exports were 10.92 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 55.9 percent; and imports came in at 20.59 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 112.1 percent.