SHIJIAZHUANG, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- North China's Hebei Province saw its foreign trade grow 6 percent year on year to 351.49 billion yuan (about 53.43 billion U.S. dollars) in the first 10 months of this year, customs data showed.
The growth was mainly due to the import sector, which grew 12.4 percent year on year to 152.97 billion yuan, according to the Shijiazhuang customs in the provincial capital.
The value of exports stood at 198.52 billion yuan from January to October, a rise of 1.6 percent year on year.
Iron ore and soybeans were among the major items that contributed to the growth in import volume, rising 18.5 percent and 70.7 percent respectively, to around 107.29 million tonnes and 6.2 million tonnes during the period.
Hebei Province, China's leading producer of iron and steel, is a major consumer of iron ore. Enditem
