Shanghai's foreign trade reached 1.23 trillion yuan (about 179.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of this year, a significant year-on-year increase of 21.9 percent, according to the latest official data released by the Shanghai Customs recently.

Specifically, March alone saw the mega city's imports and exports reach a high of 431.04 billion yuan (63.05 billion U.S. dollars). Both the quarterly and monthly foreign trade figures hit record highs, marking a strong start to the year.

The data showed that Shanghai's imports and exports have kept growing for 14 consecutive months.

In the first quarter, Shanghai's exports totaled 537.37 billion yuan (78.72 billion U.S. dollars), up 16.3 percent year on year, while imports reached 690.03 billion yuan (101.09 billion U.S. dollars), up 26.6 percent year on year.

On the export side, the "new three" products, namely electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products, continued to lead the way, with the first-quarter exports reaching 56.52 billion yuan (8.28 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of over 120 percent. High-end equipment also performed strongly, with the exports reaching 39.9 billion yuan (5.85 billion U.S. dollars), up 50.2 percent.

On the import side, semiconductor manufacturing equipment and computer numerical control machine tools grew by 36.3 percent and 25 percent respectively, supporting rapid development of Shanghai's new quality productive forces.

"In the first quarter, the number of countries and regions to which Shanghai's exports maintained growth reached 126. Meanwhile, the number of countries and regions with the annual trade volume exceeding 10 billion yuan (1.465 billion U.S. dollars) increased by four compared to the same period of last year, reaching 29. In the first quarter, our imports and exports with developed economies such as the European Union, Japan, and the Republic of Korea grew by over 30 percent year on year," said Qu Huili, director of the Statistics and Analysis Department of the Shanghai Customs.

The Shanghai Customs has in recent years introduced a series of innovative measures, including facilitating customs clearance models, refining regulatory processes, and supporting diversified development of overseas warehouses, which have promoted leapfrog growth in cross-border e-commerce imports and exports.

"Especially on the export side, the business volume has grown rapidly, effectively undertaking the task of promoting the transformation and upgrading of an open economy and creating new economic growth points. In the first quarter of 2026, the number of cross-border e-commerce export declarations made in Shanghai Customs District increased by over 40 percent compared to the same period of last year, continuing to maintain a high-speed growth momentum," said Jiang Wei, deputy director of the Port Supervision Department of the Shanghai Customs.