The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in north China exported a total of over 207 billion yuan (nearly 29 billion U.S.dollars) worth of goods in the first two months of this year, hitting a record high for the same period in history.
Last Wednesday, a freight train fully loaded with goods made in Hebei Province departed a station in Jize County, Handan City.
As the first freight train departing from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and heading towards the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year, it helps cut the transportation time by 20 percent.
"The train will operate between the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and Vietnam, and will mainly carry export goods to Vietnam, including those to be transshipped via that country," said Gong Yanjie, head of a supply chain enterprise based in Hebei.
The increased export was driven by private entrepreneurs in particular, whose export value reached over 23 billion yuan (over 3 billion U.S. dollars) in the first two months, marking a 35-percent growth.
"The foreign trade of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region posted strong resilience due to three factors. Firstly, the region has been deepening its institutional opening up, with free trade zones making coordinated plans to help increase the customs clearance efficiency by over 20 percent. Secondly, the region has noticeable advantage in industrial chain, with sectors like automobile and medical industries posting exponential export growth. Thirdly, private enterprises in the region unleashed their vitality and have become a bedrock in maintaining the stability of foreign trade," said Liu Weiheng, deputy head of the comprehensive business division of Beijing Customs.
Customs statistics showed that the foreign trade of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has been increasing steadily. Last year, the total import and export value of the region reached 5.03 trillion yuan (about 0.7 trillion U.S. dollars), maintaining growth for four consecutive years.

Export of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region surpasses 207 bln yuan in first two months