The trade volume of North China's Shanxi province in 2015 amounted to 91.4 billion yuan ($13.95 billion), down by 8.4 percent year on year, according to Taiyuan customs.

Trade surplus reached 13.27 billion yuan, expanding by 31.1 percent.

Processing trade accounted for the majority of Shanxi's foreign trade at 54.08 billion yuan, or 59.2 percent of the total.

The European Union, the United States, and BRICS countries were the principal trade partners of the province, with trade volume to the EU at 15.86 billion yuan, to the US at 12.94 billion yuan, and to the BRICS countries at 9.52 billion yuan. Trade volume to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was at 7.08 billion yuan.

In addition, over half of the province's foreign trade was conducted by foreign-funded enterprises last year with volume reaching 47.39 billion yuan, an increase of 11.6 percent over the previous year.