Hangzhou's foreign trade has gotten off to a stable start to the year, gradually improving month by month, according to data released by the city's municipal bureau of statistics.

In the first quarter, Hangzhou had a total import and export value of 181.19 billion yuan ($26.15 billion), ranking sixth among 15 vice-provincial-level cities in China and up one place from the same period last year. Its exports remained in fourth place, with a gap of less than 10 billion yuan with Guangzhou, which was ranked third.

In terms of growth rate, Hangzhou's foreign trade value in the first quarter was slightly lower than that of the same period last year. However, in March, it rebounded and the city's total foreign trade value reached 75.32 billion yuan, an increase of 20.8 percent, injecting strong momentum into the city's development.

Since the beginning of this year, Hangzhou has conducted several studies on economic work and issued policies to stabilize foreign trade.

Exports in emerging markets has been relatively good, private enterprises have shown strong trade performance, and support for high value-added electromechanical products has been strengthened. Foreign trade enterprises are also improving in terms of their performance in international competitions.

With the rapid development of new trade methods and formats such as cross-border e-commerce, service trade, and digital trade, Hangzhou's foreign trade is expected to further extend to the high-end of the global value chain.