Statistics from the Hangzhou Customs indicate that the city's foreign trade has shown a trend of recovery after the COVID-19 resurgence as imports and exports reached 64.7 billion yuan ($9.69 billion) in May, growing 2.7 percent year on year.

Exports of steel products and garments have achieved the most impressive growth at 65.8 percent and 40 percent, respectively, reaching 2.75 billion yuan and 3.55 billion yuan.

The import of soybean surged with a total value of 640 million yuan and an increase of 10 percent. Brazil became the main importer, accounting for 94.5 percent of the city's total imports.

Trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative have maintained growth, with the total value of imports and exports in May growing 5.7 percent year on year to 21.69 billion yuan.

The number of enterprises with solid import and export performance grew to 9,439 in May, an increase of 7.2 percent compared with April. Among them, 8,384 were private enterprises, accounting for 88.8 percent of the total. Their foreign trade was valued at 39.32 billion yuan in total.

From January to May, the value of Hangzhou's imports and exports reached 308.72 billion yuan, up 8.9 percent year on year. Exports were up 23.7 percent to 213.64 billion yuan, 2.3 percentage points higher than the provincial level and 12.3 percentage points higher than the national average.