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GUANGZHOU, Jan. 15-- 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. This indicates the private sector's stronger presence in driving China's foreign trade. 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. As a private new material enterprise in the southern Guangdong Province, Kingfa uses more than 4 percent of the company's annual sales revenue for research and development in high-performance new materials such as special plastics and carbon fiber. "With high-tech innovation and government support for private companies and the real economy, we are confident to realize high-quality development this year," said Song. 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. | 
