Foreign trade in east China's Jiangsu Province reached US$60.6 billion during the first three months of this year, up 24.2 percent year-on-year, reports local customs.

Statistics show exports soared 30.8 percent to US$ 33.23 billion, while imports rose 17 percent to US$27.38 billion.

General trade took up 27.6 percent of the total volume, reaching US$16.73 billion. Processing trade amounted to US$39.52 billion, representing 65.2 percent of the total.

Foreign-funded businesses contributed 82.3 percent of the foreign trade, with the volume standing at US$49.87 billion, up 26.5 percent over the same period of last year.

Trade volume of state-owned enterprises stood at US$4.91 billion, down 1.6 percent over the previous year.

Jiangsu's trade volume with its five biggest trade partners including the European Union (EU), the United States, Japan, Taiwan and the Republic of Korea rose 18.6 percent to US$41.52 billion, representing 68.5 percent of the total volume.

Its trade volume with the EU stood at US$9.67 billion, up 14.8 over the previous year, while its imports from Taiwan valued at US$5.83 billion, up 32.7 percent year-on-year.

The province ranks second only to southern bustling province of Guangdong in terms of foreign trade, with its volume accounting for 16.3 percent of China's total during the period.

(Xinhua News Agency April 19, 2006)