From January to August, the value of foreign trade in Xi'an – capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province – amounted to 295.23 billion yuan ($41.25 billion), a year-on-year increase of 2.8 percent.

Of that, exports were worth 184.09 billion yuan, up 22.7 percent, while imports came in at 111.14 billion yuan, down 19 percent year-on-year.

During the period, the trade surplus was 72.95 billion yuan.

In the first eight months, the foreign trade of the city's foreign-invested businesses and State-owned enterprises decreased by 1.6 percent and 16.2 percent to 180.76 billion yuan and 12.31 billion yuan, respectively.

The foreign trade of the city's private enterprises came in at 101.65 billion yuan, up 8.1 percent.

Over the period, the city's trade with the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) saw year-on-year increases of 12.6 percent and 36.9 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, Xi'an's trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative rose by 30 percent to 58.5 billion yuan.