Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, has been developing closer economic and trade ties with member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), as the city has joined in the promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative in recent years.

Nearly 200 local companies have been trading with member states of Shanghai Cooperation Organization since 2010, with trade value reaching $35 billion, accounting for 20 percent of the companies' total foreign trade value, according to Taiyuan bureau of commerce.

The major exports to SCO member states are cellphones, mining shovels, stainless steel, flat rolled materials, railway and vehicle parts, refractory clay and optical instruments. As for imports, Taiyuan mainly imports from those countries ferrochrome, unwrought unalloyed nickel and nickel alloy, chromium ore and concentrate.

Companies in Taiyuan have been contributing significantly to expanding the markets in SCO member states.

At the Russia and Kirghizstan stops of the Shanxi Brands Silk Road Tour in 2015 – an annual promotion event for Shanxi products launched by Shanxi provincial government – 21 businesses took part in the exhibitions and promotions. The India stop on the tour in 2016 saw contracts worth more than $6 million signed between nine Taiyuan companies and Indian businesspeople and companies.

Apart from the promotion events sponsored by Shanxi government, Taiyuan companies are also active in industrial exhibitions, expos and conferences in SCO member states, including IGATEX Pakistan and Kazakhstan International Building and Interiors Exhibition, negotiating with local businesspeople and signing orders.

Increasingly frequent and further communication and cooperation between Taiyuan companies and SCO members has become a notable achievement in the city’s foreign trade.

From January to April this year, the import-export value between Taiyuan and SCO member countries realized a significant increase compared with that of the same period in 2017, with the foreign trade value amounting to 2.01 billion yuan ($314.14 million), a year-on-year growth of 12.1 percent and 6 percent of the city’s total.

The trade volume with Russia, India, Kazakhstan and Pakistan was 1.05 billion yuan, 220 million yuan, 690 million yuan and 50 million yuan.