CHANGSHA, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Central China's Hunan Province saw foreign trade surge 41.3 percent year-on-year to 80 billion yuan (12 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2019.

Exports rose 60.4 percent year-on-year to 54.2 billion yuan while imports gained 13 percent to 25.8 billion yuan, according to Changsha Customs.

Its trade with the Belt and Road countries soared 55 percent year-on-year to 21.7 billion yuan as it embraced the Belt and Road Initiative to boost economic and trade cooperation with these countries.

Its trade with the Netherlands, India and Chile surged 91 percent, 90.8 percent and 160 percent, respectively.

The manufacturing sector is the pillar of the trade, with tax and fee cuts spurring an annual growth of 47.5 percent to 70.8 billion yuan in the first quarter, the customs said.

Equipment manufacturing saw trade up 21.1 percent year-on-year to 17.3 billion yuan in the January-March period.