Shanghai foreign trade grows 11.5% in May

Shanghai's foreign trade reached 420.49 billion yuan ($61.81 billion) in May, up 11.5 percent year-on-year and marking the 16th consecutive month of growth, according to Shanghai Customs.

Exports surged 26.7 percent in May, while imports edged up just 0.6 percent. During the first five months of the year, the city's cumulative trade volume hit 2.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 17.9 percent from the same period in 2025.

Trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations expanded 26.4 percent in May, including a 110.4 percent jump in trade with Vietnam. Trade with the European Union and the United States grew 2.6 percent and 14.8 percent, respectively, while exports to the United States surged 43.1 percent to 21.45 billion yuan.

Latin America has emerged as a new growth engine for Shanghai's foreign trade. Trade with Chile rose 77.7 percent in May, trade with Colombia grew 110 percent, and trade with Argentina increased 69.1 percent, showing the results of a more diversified global trade network.

Artificial intelligence-related products were a major driver of growth. Combined imports and exports of integrated circuits, storage components, and parts and accessories for automatic data processing equipment reached 84.94 billion yuan in May, up 87.9 percent year-on-year and contributing 10.5 percentage points to the city's overall trade growth.

Trade in parts and accessories for automatic data processing equipment increased about 900 percent, while storage components rose 170 percent and integrated circuits grew 25.6 percent, underscoring strong global demand for advanced technology products.

Exports of basic organic chemicals rose 63.2 percent to 6.83 billion yuan in May, while exports of plastics in primary forms reached a record monthly high of 3.93 billion yuan, up 41.3 percent, making them one of the anchors helping stabilize international bulk commodity supplies.

Source: Shanghai Observer