Liberation Daily: Shanghai's foreign trade maintains growth for 15 consecutive months

In April of this year, the import and export volume of Shanghai reached 455.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14%. This is the 15th consecutive month of growth in Shanghai's foreign trade.
According to statistics from Shanghai Customs, in April, both imports and exports in Shanghai achieved double-digit growth, with imports reaching 259.73 billion yuan, an increase of 11.5%; Exports amounted to 196.17 billion yuan, an increase of 17.5%.
In this wave of prosperity, AI computing products are particularly impressive. In April this year, the import and export volume of AI computing power related products such as integrated circuits, storage components, computer parts and accessories in Shanghai was 73.58 billion yuan, an increase of 85.7%, driving Shanghai's foreign trade growth by 8.5 percentage points alone.
According to Shanghai Customs' analysis, this is mainly due to the exponential increase in global demand for AI computing power, the continuous expansion of artificial intelligence data centers (AIDC) construction in various countries, and Shanghai's role as the Asia Pacific distribution center for global computing hardware, with high-frequency cargo dispatch, significantly increasing the scale of foreign trade statistics.
It is understood that Shanghai and its surrounding areas have a complete manufacturing industry chain for computing power components. At the same time, relying on the policy advantages of Shanghai Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone and Pudong Free Trade Zone, integrated circuit giants such as the United States and South Korea have also laid out Asia Pacific transit warehouses for computing power related products such as GPU (graphics processing unit) storage and SSD (solid state drive) in Shanghai. Computing power products are flexibly transferred through bonded logistics, which not only dispatch and support the construction of various intelligent computing centers in mainland China, but also serve the computing infrastructure of Southeast Asia and more countries. Data shows that in April of this year, bonded logistics accounted for over 60% of the import and export of AI computing products in Shanghai. This indicates that Shanghai has been deeply embedded in the global AI industry chain and supply chain.
In terms of exports, Shanghai's new energy products continue to soar overseas. Affected by regional situations such as the US Iran conflict, Shanghai's trade with the Middle East region came under short-term pressure in April this year, with import and export values dropping by 38.9%. However, at the same time, due to the drastic fluctuations in crude oil prices, there is a huge gap in demand for new energy products in various countries. Shanghai's new energy products are accelerating their capture of the global green transformation dividend and are exported to more than 200 countries and regions. Taking the "New Three Samples" as an example, in April this year, Shanghai's exports of electric vehicles and lithium batteries increased by 71.4% and 92.5% respectively, and the export of photovoltaic products surged 5.9 times. Leading enterprises' orders and production capacity are approaching full capacity.
Due to the fact that the total import and export value of Shanghai to the Middle East accounts for less than 10% of Shanghai's overall foreign trade, the direct impact of the US Iran conflict on Shanghai is limited in the short term. In the long run, Shanghai will continue to improve its export volume and quality with its full chain layout and long-term deep cultivation in the new energy industry.
In addition, in terms of major trading partners, Shanghai's exports to the United States in April this year amounted to 20.13 billion yuan, an increase of 13.9%, demonstrating unexpected resilience. During the same period, Shanghai's imports and exports to ASEAN increased by 26.4% and to the European Union by 15.1%, reflecting its strength in coordinating multiple markets.
By 2025, Shanghai will achieve a foreign trade import and export volume of 4.51 trillion yuan. In the first four months of this year, Shanghai achieved a cumulative import and export of 1.68 trillion yuan, an increase of 19.7%, laying a solid foundation for the stable growth of foreign trade in 2026.