In the first half of this year, Shanxi province recorded a total of 68.51 billion yuan ($9.54 billion) in foreign trade, a 20.8 percent decrease compared to the same period last year.

General trade amounted to 44.66 billion yuan, a 1.5 percent increase; processing trade reached 21.61 billion yuan, a 46.6 percent decline; and bonded logistics trade hit 1.89 billion yuan, soaring by 528.3 percent.

Among the foreign trade entities, private enterprises stood out with imports and exports totaling 28.25 billion yuan, marking a 6 percent growth and accounting for 41.2 percent of the province's total. State-owned enterprises recorded 23.16 billion yuan in imports and exports, a decrease of 11.7 percent and representing 33.8 percent of the total.

The top five foreign trade markets for Shanxi include ASEAN, the United States, the European Union, South Africa, and Australia, collectively representing 51.9 percent of the province's total foreign trade.

The export of electromechanical products reached 22.43 billion yuan, declining by 42.3 percent. Specifically, phone exports dropped by 60.5 percent, while electrical equipment increased by 36.9 percent.

Taiyuan recorded imports and exports of 45.32 billion yuan, down by 30.3 percent and representing 66.2 percent of the province's total. Yuncheng saw imports and exports totaling 8.97 billion yuan, a 7 percent growth and accounting for 13.1 percent of the total.