This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Over the past ten years, the ever-expanding trading partnership between Liaoning and the countries involved in the BRI has become a new driving force for the high-quality development of Liaoning’s foreign trade. According to Shenyang Customs statistics, from 2013 to 2022, the import and export volumes of Liaoning to the countries involved in the BRI expanded from 309.05 billion yuan to 388.41 billion yuan, totaling 3.09 trillion yuan in ten years. The average annual growth rate stands at 2.6%, higher than that of the province’s foreign trade in the same period by 1.4 percentage points. In the first 10 months of this year, the volume of the province’s import and export to the countries involved in the BRI has reached 316.61 billion yuan, accounting for 49.4% of the total volume of the province’s import and export in the same period.

In the past 10 years, Liaoning has continued to deepen economic and trade exchanges and cooperation with the countries involved in the BRI. South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates have been the top five trading partners, accounting for 45.3% of the province’s total trade with the countries involved in the BRI. Among them, import and export trade with Saudi Arabia and Russia gathers momentum. From 2013 to 2022, the scale of Liaoning’s import and export to Saudi Arabia and Russia expanded from 29.98 billion yuan and 15.05 billion yuan to 59.9 billion yuan and 35.89 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 8 percent and 10.1 percent, respectively.

In the past ten years, Liaoning’s private enterprises have been the main force in exploring the BRI market in the province, and their proportion has been increasing year by year. In 2013, Liaoning’s private enterprises contributed 36.9% of the import and export to the countries involved in the BRI, and the proportion increased to 55.6% in 2022. In the first 10 months of this year, the proportion of import and export of private enterprises in Liaoning to the countries involved in the BRI further increased to 57.3%.

In addition, the commodity structure of Liaoning’s exports to the countries involved in the BRI has been continuously optimized, with the share of mechanical and electrical products increasing from 31.3% in 2013 to 46.1% in 2022. In the first 10 months of this year, the share of exports of mechanical and electrical products increased to 51%.