Tianjin, the largest port city innorth China, reported a foreign trade of 13.56 billion US dollars in the first quarter of this year, up 35 percent on a yearly basis,according to local customs.

The total included 7.24 billion dollars in exports, up 28.8 percent, and 6.32 billion dollars in imports, up 42.8 percent.

Imports and exports conducted through general trade reached eight billion dollars during the three-month period, up 50 percentyear-on-year.

The trade volume handled by local foreign-funded enterprises rose 31.6 percent year-on-year to 6.45 billion dollars, accountingfor 47.6 percent of the total foreign trade, followed by that conducted by state-owned enterprises at 5.36 billion dollars, and the volume by collectively-owned, private and other enterprises at1.75 billion dollars.

Local exports of machinery and electronic products reached 2.9 billion dollars, up 42.9 percent year-on-year, followed by exportsof garments at 690 million dollars.

Japan remains the largest trade partner of Tianjin with bilateral trade reaching 2.4 billion dollars during the corresponding period, up 21 percent, followed by the United Stateswith a trade volume of 2.3 billion dollars.

Tianjin dealt with 1.54 billion dollars of exports to the United States from January to March, up 42 percent year-on-year, making it the leading importer of Tianjin products.

Source: Xinhua