CHONGQING, Feb. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Chongqing Municipality in southwest China registered a 45 percent increase in its 2003 foreign trade, against a 2.2 percent drop in 2002, the local customs bureau said today.

The city's foreign trade was valued at 2.59 billion US dollars in 2003, according to the latest statistics from the Chongqing Customs.

Chongqing is one and the youngest of China's four provincial-level municipalities. The other three are Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai.

Exports of motorcycles and motorcycle engines, Chongqing's major export items, in 2003 were worth 570 million US dollars, accounting for over one-third of the city's total exports in the year, according to customs statistics.

Although their share in the city's foreign trade dropped further, state-owned enterprises in Chongqing continued to be the major operators. Their imports were worth 490 million US dollars, and their exports were worth 860 million US dollars in 2003, making up about 48 percent of the city's total foreign trade in the year.

Meantime, overseas-funded and private enterprises in Chongqing recorded rising shares in 2003. Imports by overseas-funded enterprises in Chongqing went up 71.1 percent, only 0.8 percentagepoints lower than state enterprises' share in the city's total imports for the year.

According to the Chongqing Customs, private enterprises registered 40 million US dollars-worth of imports and 290 million US dollars-worth of exports in 2003, both figures being higher growths than the city's average.

Source: www.xinhuanet.com 2004-02-03