Imports and exports continued to grow rapidly in Jiangsu Province, an economic engine in eastern China, to reach US$200 billion in the first 11 months of this year.

The total foreign trade volume will amount to US$220 billion for the whole of the year, contributing to more than 35 percent of the province's gross domestic product, or GDP, local foreign trade and economic cooperation authorities said on Monday.

Gao Heyun, spokesperson of the authorities, said Jiangsu's foreign trade doubled every other years in the 2001-2005 period.

In 2001, imports and exports totaled more than US$50 billion in the province, and the figure doubled the level to US$100 billion in 2003. Trade volume this year will more than double the level two years earlier to reach US$220 billion this year, Gao said.

Over the past five years, foreign trade growth averaged 37.6 percent annually, according to Gao.

Currently, Jiangsu ranks second among provincial-level regions in China in terms of imports and exports respectively, Gao added.

Meanwhile, the province has had exports buildup improve.

This year export value of new- and and high-tech products in Jiangsu will reach US$53 billion, or 45 percent of the province's total; and that of machines and electronics will hit US$80 billion, or two thirds of the total.

Gao said that the European Union has replaced the United States to become the largest supplier for Jiangsu, accounting for 23 percent of the province's total arrivals. The Republic of Korea has become the top importer of Jiangsu's products, making up 21 percent of the province's total exports and followed by Japan.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2005)