Shanghai recorded nearly 230 billion US dollars in foreign trade in the first 10 months of this year, a year-on-year growth of 41.4 percent.

The trade volume has already exceeded the total foreign trade volume of entire 2003, according to local customs sources.

Of the total trade volume, import came to 99.7 billion dollars and export was 130 billion dollars, up 40.3 percent and 42.2 percent respectively.

The import and export value of foreign-funded businesses handled by Shanghai Port totaled 142.9 billion dollars, a rise of 52 percent.

The city's private companies registered the fastest growth of all sectors, which hit 28 billion dollars, up 68.9 percent year-on-year, while the state-owned companies gained 58.7 billion dollars in foreign trade, a year-on-year increase of 13.5 percent.

The European Union, Japan and the United States remained Shanghai's top three trade partners, accounting for 55.6 percent of the total foreign trade volume, the customs sources said.

Electrical and mechanical products made up the largest percentage of exports, with 52.7 billion dollars, up 62.1 percent over the same period of last year. The export of textile, garment,furniture, shoes and plastic products also reported increases in various extent.

Source: Xinhua