Technical barriers erected in overseas markets are hitting Chinese exporters, Qianjiang Evening News reported.

In 2012, 56.27 percent of exporters in Ningbo, in East China's Zhejiang province, encountered technical barriers, resulting in losses of $2.73 billion.

The losses increased by 23.79 percent from a year earlier, accounting for 4.44 percent of the city's total exports, said Chen Mengyu, spokesman of Ningbo Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau on Monday.

Europe and the US are markets with the most technical barriers for Ningbo exporters. Losses in these two markets accounted for more than 60 percent of the city's total, said Chen.

Technical barriers in Europe and the US also led to rising export costs. Chen said that added costs for coping with technical barriers in the two markets account for 78.96 percent of total added costs, a record high.

Li Hanyu, manager of Xici Xingsheng Agricultural Export, said that the company could not accept orders from European markets because of complicated verification procedures.

According to Li, the EU required more than 100 tests on imported agricultural products, which is both time-consuming and expensive. The exporter said he is trying to avoid orders from Spain, Germany and the UK.