NANJING - East China’s economic powerhouse Jiangsu prov­ince recorded a total im­port and export volume of 3.36 trillion yuan (about 460.9 billion US dollars) from January to August, the customs of the capital city of Nanjing said Sun­day. This figure, including exports amounting to 2.16 trillion yuan and imports of 1.2 trillion yuan, ac­counted for 12.4 percent of China’s total import and export volume during the same period. Imports and exports of Jiangsu’s private enterprises have contin­ued to grow this year. Dur­ing the first eight months of 2023, the import and export volume of private enterprises reached 1.47 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.3 percent compared to the same period last year. During this period, Jiang­su’s trade with the Middle East and Africa amounted to 158.62 billion yuan and 100.42 billion yuan, with year-on-year growth of 14.2 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively. From January to August, Jiangsu’s exports of elec­tric passenger vehicles, lithium batteries, and so­lar panels totaled 137.52 billion yuan, and exports of mobile phones reached 86.28 billion yuan. These figures represented year-on-year growth of 20.4 percent and 22.6 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the value of the province’s imported agricultural products grew to 118.33 billion yuan, marking a year-on-year increase of 11.9 percent. Among these imports, soybeans ac­counted for 67.21 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 16.7 percent.