Shenzhen, a boomtown in south China's Guangdong Province neighboring Hong Kong, has lead large and medium-sized Chinese cities in terms of foreign trade for 12 straight years.

Local customs statistics show that the city had 147.31 billion US dollars worth of foreign trade in 2004, up 25.5 percent on a year-on-year basis.

In breakdown, exports made up 77.86 billion US dollars, up 23.7 percent, and contributed one eighth of the national total. Imports totaled 69.46 billion US dollars, up 27.6 percent.

According to the customs sources, exports to Hong Kong, the United States and the European Union, three of the city's 10 major export markets, all showed double-digit increases in the past year.

And the city's main export items are stationery, telecom equipment and home appliances.