Shanghai sees steady increase in foreign trade

SHANGHAI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The foreign trade of China's economic hub Shanghai registered a steady recovery this year, customs data shows.

In the first four months, the total value of Shanghai's foreign trade reached 1.39 trillion yuan (about 198.1 billion U.S. dollars), up 13.5 percent year on year.

Taking a closer look, export value stood at 558.65 billion yuan, up 16.3 percent year on year while import value reached 834.57 billion yuan, up 11.6 percent year on year.

In April, Shanghai's imports and exports soared by 57.9 percent year on year to 346.63 billion yuan.

In the first four months, Shanghai exported 389.87 billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, up 21 percent year on year, accounting for 69.8 percent of the city's total export value.

Imports of consumer goods, which took up 22.9 percent of the total import value from January to April, registered a year-on-year growth of 18.4 percent.