Hubei's imports and exports reached 353.98 billionyuan in the first seven months of this year, up 1.4 percent year on year, local customs said on Wednesday.

Of the total, exports posted242.78 billionyuan, ascending by 3percent from the same period last year.

From January to July, Hubei’s imports and exports of general trade amounted to273.72billionyuanwith a growth rate of4.2percent, accounting for77.3percent of the province's total foreign trade volume.

Hubei's foreign trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) stood at58.61 billionyuan and 45.73 billionyuan, respectively.

In particular, its trade with countries along the Belt and Road totaled123.61 billionyuan during the period.

Private enterprises witnessed strong performance with the import and export volume hitting 238.58 billion yuanoverthe period, taking up a67.4-percent share ofthe province’s foreign trade, while the imports and exports of state-owned enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises reached63.47 billion yuan and  51.72 billion yuan, respectively.

Exports of mechanical and electrical products soared to119.22billion yuan,contributing approximately 50 percenttothe province’s total.

Among them, exports of automobiles, electrical appliancesand auto parts posted10.36 billion yuan, 8.27 billion yuan and 6.66 billion yuan, skyrocketing by102.8percent, 26.3percentand 22.7percent,respectively.(en.hubei.gov.cn by Zhang Yawei)