Baotou in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region showed steady growth in foreign trade imports and exports, with the total import and export value hitting 12.10 billion yuan ($1.87 billion) in the first half of 2021, a year-on-year increase of 59.4 percent, according to statistics released by Baotou customs.

The growth rate is 43.3 percentage points higher than the autonomous region's average, and the total value ranks first in the autonomous region, accounting for 21 percent of the total value of the autonomous region.

Exports totaled 5.72 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 58 percent, and imports reached 6.38 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 60.7 percent.

In the first half of the year, the export of traditional advantageous industries increased steadily.

The export of steel, mechanical and electrical products, and rare earth materials products increased by 62.85 percent, 133.22 percent, and 47.56 percent respectively, and the cumulative export value accounted for 93.46 percent of the city's total export value.

At the same time, the import of bulk commodities was 5.75 billion yuan, accounting for 90.1 percent of the city's total import value.

State-owned enterprises continue to maintain their leading position in foreign trade, with a total import and export volume of 9.74 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 71.39 percent, accounting for 80.45 percent of the city's total import and export value.

During the six-month period, Baotou's import and export values with Australia, South Korea, Vietnam, and Mongolia were 5.15 billion yuan, 1.13 billion yuan, 879 million yuan and 665 million yuan respectively, an increase of 96.38 percent, 99.07 percent, 238.93 percent and 97.27 percent respectively.