Pudong Times: Pudong's first quarter foreign trade starts strongly

According to Shanghai Customs, Pudong New Area achieved a "good start" in foreign trade in the first quarter of this year, with a total import and export value of 795.27 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.8%, and a record high import and export scale for the quarter. Among them, exports amounted to 314.62 billion yuan, an increase of 25.7%; Imports amounted to 480.65 billion yuan, an increase of 37.9%.
The vitality of foreign trade operators continues to be unleashed. In the first quarter, there were 15000 foreign trade enterprises with import and export performance in Pudong New Area, an increase of 541 compared to the same period last year.
The foreign trade 'circle of friends' is more diverse. In the first quarter, the import and export of Pudong New Area to countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" was 299.66 billion yuan, an increase of 29.9%, accounting for 37.7% of the total import and export value; Imports and exports to ASEAN, Latin America, and Africa increased by 22.8%, 13.9%, and 65.8% respectively. During the same period, imports and exports to the European Union, South Korea, Japan, and other countries also saw growth.
High end and green product exports achieve dual wheel drive. The high-end equipment manufacturing industry in Pudong New Area adheres to innovation driven development, and its products sell well worldwide. In the first quarter, exports of ships and marine engineering equipment, as well as ship shore cranes, amounted to 9.37 billion yuan and 5.02 billion yuan, respectively, with growth rates of 93.9% and double. The artificial intelligence industry is booming, with industrial robot exports reaching 440 million yuan, an increase of 67.1%; This year, the export of intelligent bionic robots with a single tax number was 47.342 million yuan, accounting for over 20% of the national total. The export of the "new three" products representing green and low-carbon, as well as wind turbines, has increased by 1.2 times and 4 times respectively.
Strong domestic demand promotes balanced development of imports and exports. Relying on the continuously rising market environment of diversified domestic demand, imports in Pudong New Area increased by 37.9% in the first quarter, with imports of consumer goods such as textiles and clothing, bags and suitcases, and edible oil increasing by 9.1%, 6.2%, and 25.6% respectively; The import of electronic consumer goods such as household appliances and laptops increased by 30.6% and 1.1 times respectively; Industrial intermediate products such as electronic components and computer parts increased by 25.9% and 1.8 times respectively.