The import and export business in Hebei in the first five months of the year achieved sustained growth, reaching 22.2 billion dollars, an increase of 4.4 percent year-on-year. The latest statistics from Shijiazhuang Customs also show that the month of May saw a large increase in imports and exports - more than 7 percent.

The statistics also show that the city's gross import volume ranked among China’s top ten cities for three months since March.

The private sector has played an increasingly large role in the booming foreign trade of the province, as private companies imported more products during the period, accounting for 46 percent of total imports. For exports, more than half of the business came from these companies. State-owned enterprises began to increase their imports in May, showing strong signs of recovery.