Shanghai Customs reports a foreign trade volume of over 48 billion US dollars in the first five months of this year, up 18.4 percent year-on-year.
While total imports hit nearly 21 billion U.S. dollars by realizing a year-on-year growth of 15 percent, exports reached 27 billion U.S. dollars, up about 21 percent over the same period of 2000.
On the part of imports, general merchandise remained in the first place with a total value of nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars, up 19 percent year-on-year, in comparison with a 6 percent increase in processed products and 28.4 percent growth in electronic products.
Exports, on the other hand, have kept an overall development momentum, with Asia remaining the largest target market followed by the European, North American, and African markets.