Hainan Province in South China has seen a 31.8 percent growth in foreign trade thanks to the two-year construction of the Hainan pilot free trade zone, local customs said on April 24.

The imports and exports of the province reached 183.86 billion yuan ($25.96 billion) from April 2018 to March this year, according to the customs in Haikou, capital of the province.

The exports totaled 68.01 billion yuan ($9.6 billion) during the period, up 51.3 percent compared with the same period in previous years, and the imports increased 22.5 percent to 115.85 billion yuan ($16 billion).

The province's foreign trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) increased 60.2 percent to 51.26 billion yuan ($7.2 billion) during the period, making it the largest trading partner of Hainan.

Refined oil and duty-free products are major commodities leading Hainan's growth in imports and exports. In the past two years, the province's exports of refined oil increased 1.2 times to 32.41 billion yuan ($4.5 billion), and its imports of duty-free products grew 95.4 percent to 20.97 billion yuan ($2.9 billion).

China aims to build Hainan into a high-quality pilot free trade zone by 2020 and a free trade port with Chinese characteristics by 2035.