??? THE city’s imports and exports reached US$16.449 billion in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 1.6 percent over the same period of last year. Among these, exports were US$9.12 billion, an increase of 4 percent, while imports reached US$7.33 billion, a drop of 0.8 percent. The slow increase was mainly due to the decreasing demands of the international market. Among these, the exports of containers, chemical engineering products and textile products dropped by 35, 11.3 and 4.2 percent respectively, while their exports amount dropped by 23.7, 7.5 and 6.3 percent respectively. The value of imports also dropped due to a reduction in the price of resources. For example, prices of natural rubber, cotton and irons had dropped by 23.9, 23.8 and 11.2 percent respectively this year. In the first quarter, the imports of these products increased by at least 10 percent, but their total value dropped. However, under such circumstances, the city’s private companies’ imports and exports have increased steadily. The exports reached US$3.196 billion, an increase of 17.7 percent over the first quarter of last year. Exports for general trade wereUS$4.718 billion, increasing by 9.7 percent over last year. Due to the global economic recession and the appreciation of the RMB, the city’s commerce bureau expects the growth speed of the city’s exports and imports to be as low as 4.5 and 2 percent respectively in the first half of this year. (Wang Yuanyuan, Shen Junlin) | 