External trade in Shanghai, the leading economic locomotive in eastern China, amounted to 51.66 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year growth of 23.7 percent.

Local customs sources said that the total included 26.28 billion U.S. dollars in export and 25.38 billion U.S. dollars in import, up 26.5 percent and 21 percent respectively.

Between January and March, foreign-funded companies in Shanghai sold abroad 18.1 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods, up 28.1 percent; and private companies sold 2.33 billion U.S. dollars worth, up 53.9 percent, the sources said.

Export of machines and electronics went up 29.7 percent year-on-year to 17.76 billion U.S. dollars in the three-month period, or 67.6 percent of the city's total export volume.

The period also saw Shanghai export 6.67 billion U.S.dollars worth of goods to the United States, up 29.1 percent; 5.9 billion dollars worth to the European Union, up 23.4 percent; 3.8 billion dollars to Japan, up 15.3 percent; and 2.8 billion dollars to Hong Kong SAR, up 15.2 percent.

The top four markets accounted for 70.9 percent of Shanghai's total exports, down from the year-earlier-level of 73.2 percent, the customs sources added.

Source: Xinhua