Zhejiang Province, an economic powerhouse in east China, saw signs of recovery in its foreign trade in March.

Local customs house said on Saturday that last month, Zhejiang's export value stood at US$9.81 billion, down 8.9 percent from the same month of last year. But the decline rate was 29.4 percentage points below the February level. And the export value was 78.2 percent higher than the previous month.

The import value was US$4.11 billion, up 28.9 percent month-on-month but down 16.3 percent year-on-year. The decline rate was 1.2 percentage points lower than that for February.

The province's total foreign trade volume amounted to US$37.26 billion in the first quarter, down 19.3 percent from a year earlier. But the decline rate was 5.6 percentage points below the national average.

(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2009)