NANJING, May 17 -- The imports and exports of east China's Jiangsu Province, one of the country's major foreign trade hubs, rose by 14.2 percent year on year to about 421.5 billion yuan (about 60.4 billion U.S. dollars) in April, Nanjing Customs said on Wednesday.

The province's exports recorded 280.9 billion yuan, and its imports reached nearly 140.6 billion yuan in April.

In the first four months of the year, the import and export volume of Jiangsu Province totaled 1.62 trillion yuan, according to statistics from the Nanjing Customs.

From January to April, Jiangsu's foreign trade value with the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the province's top two trading partners, rose by 3.8 percent and 6.6 percent, reaching about 257 billion yuan and 255.9 billion yuan, respectively.

During the same period, the province's trade with countries along the Belt and Road climbed 11 percent to reach nearly 476.9 billion yuan, accounting for 29.4 percent of its total foreign trade.

Mechanical and electrical products were the province's major export items, while imports of agricultural products and consumer goods posted strong growth during the period.