GUANGZHOU — China’s import and export volume in 2018 rose 9.7 percent year on year to more than 30 trillion yuan (4.4 trillion U.S. dollars), a record high amid the complex circumstances mainly thanks to the country’s robust ang resilient private sector.

“Private enterprises contributed more than half to China’s foreign trade growth in 2018, a bright spot of China’s foreign trade development,” said Li Kuiwen, spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs.

Song Ziqiang, head of the import and export department of Kingfa Technology Co., Ltd., said his company had achieved over 10 percent growth in both imports and exports in 2018.

“In particular, our exports of biodegradable plastics, a high value-added new material, rose 117 percent year on year, accounting for about a third of such products in the European market,” Song said.

New trade forms and business models, including cross-border e-commerce, are showing greater vitality, according to Gu Xueming, head of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce.

The official data shows that China’s total retail imports and exports via cross-border e-commerce management platforms of customs increased by 50 percent in 2018.

China’s home appliance maker Galanz exported its products to more than 70 countries and regions along the Belt and Road in 2018.

More than 60,000 foreign-funded enterprises were set up in China last year, up 69.8 percent compared with 2017, according to the Ministry of Commerce.