Shanghai's Foreign Trade Surges in Q1, Hitting Historic Highs

Shanghai's export value in March reached 537.3 billion yuan (US$74.25 billion), up 16.3 percent year on year, while imports were over 690 billion yuan, up 26.6 percent, according to Shanghai Customs.

The city's total foreign trade was 1.23 trillion yuan in the first quarter, up 21.9 percent year over year.

High-end products led exports. The first-quarter exports of 56.5 billion yuan, up 120 percent, were led by electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaics. Premium equipment exports reached 40 billion yuan, up 50.2 percent.

Notably, relevant firms seized trade opportunities arising from the peak in global maritime logistics and port equipment renewals, leading exports of ships, marine engineering equipment, and ship-to-shore cranes to increase by 54.7 percent, 98.5 percent, and 98.5 percent, respectively.

Intelligent products boosted growth exponentially. Integrated circuits and computer components, centered on AI computing power, increased by approximately 70 percent, while industrial and surgical robot exports doubled.

The import value of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and CNC machine tools rose 36.3 percent and 25 percent, respectively, supporting Shanghai's rapid growth of new, quality productive forces. Imports of daily needs like edible oils, aquatic products, and alcoholic drinks grew by double-digits, while specialized fruits like durians, coconuts, and avocados grew dramatically.

In the first quarter, Shanghai saw strong import and export development with 126 nations and regions worldwide. The number of commercial partners with import and export volumes surpassing 10 billion yuan climbed by four, to a total of 29.

Trade with established countries, including the EU, Japan and South Korea, increased by nearly 30 percent to 463.36 billion yuan. Imports and exports to ASEAN, Latin America, and Africa grew 16.4 percent, 16.9 percent, and 23.5 percent, respectively.