The port in northern China's Tianjin Municipality saw 159.3 billion yuan (22.7 billion U.S. dollars) of seaborne trade with countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the first half of this year.

Tianjin Customs data showed the trade volume grew 9.7 percent in H1 year on year, among which imports reached 52.15 billion yuan, up 27.9 percent year on year, the customs said Monday.

Crude oil, agricultural products and automobiles are the top three import items in the port. The import of natural gas increased by 1.7 times year on year to 2.37 billion yuan, according to the customs.

The trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the port reached 59.42 billion yuan in H1, accounting for 37.3 percent of the total. The port also saw 13.65 billion yuan of trade with the European Union in H1, up 25.1 percent year on year.

With trade links with over 180 countries and regions, the Tianjin port now plays an important role in the BRI. Its container throughput reached 8.33 million tonnes in H1, a year-on-year growth of 6.7 percent, higher than the average growth of Chinese ports.