China imported 72,000 motor vehicles in the first four months of 2006, doubling the figure in last year's same period, according to a news release from the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

In April alone, China's import of motor vehicles topped 21,000.

In addition, China's import of machinery and electronic products jumped 28.5 percent to 129.56 billion U.S. dollars. But, the import of steel products dropped by 26.4 percent to 6.29 million tons.

In terms of export, machinery and electronic products grew 32.7 percent to reach 158.72 billion U.S. dollars in the first four months of this year, making up 57.9 percent of the country's total exports.

The export of electric and electronic products came to 64.41 billion U.S. dollars during the period, up 40.2 percent; machine tool exports reached 55.7 billion U.S. dollars, up 24.3 percent; and exports of high-tech products came to 81.24 billion U.S. dollars, up 34.4 percent.

The export of clothing was up 24.7 percent to 24.03 billion dollars, and that of other textile products rose 20.4 percent to 14.45 billion dollars.

Source: Xinhua