The Yangtze River Delta region, China's foreign trade hub, saw its foreign trade reach a high of 11.07 trillion yuan (about 1.56 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of this year, up 5.5 percent year on year, according to the latest official data released by the Hangzhou Customs.
The Yangtze River Delta region encompasses Shanghai and the three provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.
Data showed that the import and export volume of the Yangtze River Delta region during the January-August period accounted for 37.4 percent of the total value of the country's foreign trade.
Specifically, exports in the area reached 7.08 trillion yuan (about 0.99 trillion U.S. dollars), up 9.2 percent, accounting for 40.2 percent of the total national export value, which contributed 52.3 percent to the overall growth of national exports.
The Yangtze River Delta is home to 26 national-level advanced manufacturing clusters, covering a wide range of fields such as large aircraft, marine engineering equipment, and high-tech ships. These clusters have become a key foundation for driving the region's goods trade toward medium- and high-end development.
Foreign trade of China's Yangtze River Delta exceeds 11 tln yuan in January-August period
A joint maritime exercise codenamed "Will for Peace 2026," which drew participation of BRICS member states including China, Russia, and South Africa, closed on Friday in the airspace and waters near South Africa.
The exercise, which ran from Jan 9 to 16 in the waters and airspace off Simon's Town, consisted of two main phases.
The port and shore operations phase from Jan 9 to 12 included the opening ceremony, ship tours, cultural and sports events, and professional exchanges.
This was followed by the sea phase from Jan 13 to 15, during which the participating vessels conducted drills on communication, formation maneuver, maritime strike, hijacked vessel rescue, helicopter-borne patient transfer and treatment, and other subjects.
The exercise concluded with a closing ceremony on Friday.
"The waters around Simon's Town is a maritime transportation hub connecting the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and maritime transport of goods is indispensable in many countries' economic activities. So for the BRICS member states, the better use of military forces to maintain shipping safety in this vital sea area and keep it in a state of peace will not only better guarantee their economic development and social stability, but also make more and greater contributions to the whole world," said Wei Dongxu, a military observer.
The joint maritime exercise went through under the theme of "Joint Actions to Ensure the Safety of Key Shipping Lanes and Maritime Economic Activities."
Selected from the 48th Chinese naval escort taskforce, the Chinese participating force included guided-missile destroyer Tangshan (Hull 122) and comprehensive supply ship Taihu (Hull 889), as well as a ship-borne helicopter and several dozens of special operations troops.
The exercise aimed to further deepen military exchanges and cooperation among participating nations, enhance their collective capacity to address maritime threats, and contribute to jointly safeguarding regional peace and stability and building a community with a shared future for humanity and a maritime community with a shared future.
Joint BRICS maritime exercise closes
