In North China, Shanxi province's foreign trade value with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) reached 34.83 billion yuan ($5.39 billion) in 2020, representing year-on-year growth of 5.3 percent, according to provincial customs authority Taiyuan Customs.

Exports had a total value of 20.73 billion yuan, an increase of 0.4 percent, and imports were valued at 14.1 billion yuan, up 13.4 percent. The exports and imports with BRI countries accounted for 23.1 percent of Shanxi's total foreign trade value last year.

Among the exported goods, mobile phones, medical materials and medicines saw export volume growth, while the export volume of steel products and solar cells dropped sharply.

Imports of imaging modules and integrated circuits for mobile phones and tablet computers increased significantly, while imports of ferroalloys declined.

Russia and member nations of the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were Shanxi's major trading partners among countries involved in BRI. In particular, five ASEAN members ranked among Shanxi's top 10 BRI trading countries in 2020.