Changsha county in Hunan province achieved foreign trade amounting to more than $3 billion in 2014, csxrmt.com reported, citing statistics newly released by local commerce bureau.

The total export and import volume of the county, a sub-district of the capital city Changsha, reached $3.102 billion during the past year, increasing by 18.7 percent compared with the year before.

The figure accounted for 24.7 percent of the total foreign trade value of Changsha city and 10 percent of the whole province in 2014, according to the local customs office.

Its imports amounted to $1.812 billion, a 28.5 percent increase, and the exports totaled at $ 1.29 billion, up 4.9 percent.

In 2014, APEC became the largest trading partner of Changsha county, with a transaction value of $1.8 billion, 58 percent of the total. Japan ranked its largest importer and South Korea its prime export destination. The county's export volume to the neighboring country totaled $125 million, increasing by 61.9 percent year-on-year.

A large number of innovation-driven enterprises like Hunan Houde Heavy Industry Machinery made significant strides in the county last year.

The company had its crawler telescopic boom crane products exported to a client in Singapore in February 2014, only less than one year after it set up its operations in the county.

There were 153 companies engaging in foreign trade in Changsha county, including the Changsha National Economic and Technical Development Zone, as of December, 2014, 16 more than that of the same period in 2013.

Besides, around 2,300 people from Changsha county worked abroad last year and its annual turnover of contract foreign projects and labor export reached $30 million.