Shanghai's foreign trade hits record high in Jan.-Feb.

In this aerial photo, vehicles are seen before being shipped to Australia, at Haitong Pier, one of China's largest auto-export terminals, in east China's Shanghai, May 25, 2022. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

SHANGHAI, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai's foreign trade hit a record high of 681.56 billion yuan (about 99.12 billion U.S. dollars) in the first two months of this year, with a slight year-on-year increase of 0.7 percent, data from Shanghai Customs showed Tuesday.

In the period, the metropolis in eastern China saw imports rise 4.7 percent year on year to 415.99 billion yuan, while its exports fell 4.9 percent year on year to 265.57 billion yuan, said the customs authority.

Private enterprises in Shanghai posted strong performance as their foreign trade reached around 208.48 billion yuan in the two months, up 13.1 percent year on year, accounting for 30.6 percent of the metropolis's total trade value.

From January to February, Shanghai's trade volume with other Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) members reached 231.87 billion yuan, up 2.5 percent year on year, while its imports and exports volume with the European Union reached 137.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5 percent.