ZHENGZHOU — Central China's Henan province saw a 46.2-percent increase in its foreign trade value during the first three quarters of this year, 23.5 percentage points higher than the country's average growth rate in the period, local customs said on Oct 19.

The province's total import and export values reached 553.8 billion yuan (about $86.4 billion) during this period, data from the Zhengzhou Customs showed.

The figures showed an increase of 50.4 percent compared with that of the same period in 2019 before the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Of the total, exports grew to about 338 billion yuan, marking a 46-percent growth from the same period last year, while imports registered an increase of 46.7 percent to reach 215 billion yuan.

The United States, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the European Union remained Henan's top trading partners.

The province's imports and exports to the member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership reached 149.6 billion yuan, up 35.4 percent, while those to the countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative amounted to 121 billion yuan, up 20.9 percent.