According to a press conference held by the information office of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region's government on Nov 29, in the first 10 months of this year, the total value of foreign trade there hit 152.99 billion yuan ($20.96 billion), marking a year-on-year increase of 28.3 percent, which outpaced the overall growth rate of national foreign trade by 28.3 percentage points.

Specifically, exports amounted to 59.79 billion yuan, up 22 percent year-on-year, while imports came in at 93.2 billion, an increase of 32.7 percent compared to the same period last year.

In October alone, the import and export value totaled 15.19 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 22.1 percent, with monthly import and export figures maintaining a high level of operation.

Additionally, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past decade, the economic and trade relations between Inner Mongolia and countries participating in the BRI have become increasingly close, with active trade exchanges and the continuous expansion of the scale of trade.

The trade value jumped from 53.5 billion yuan in 2013 to 118.79 billion yuan in the first 10 months of this year, making up 77.6 percent instead of 71.9 percent of total trade value.

In the first 10 months of this year, the import and export growth rate of Inner Mongolia with these countries was 10.1 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate.