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Shanghai port registered US$24.9 billion of foreign trade in January, up 23.8 percent over the same period of 2003.

Shanghai customs said the port, China's largest, did US$15.09 billion of exports and US$9.87 billion of imports, up 23.5 percent and 24.4 percent respectively over the previous year.

Foreign-invested companies contributed 60 percent to the port's total foreign trade, while private firms reported at least an 80 percent rise in two-way trade, the fastest growth rate among all businesses.

The European Union remained the largest trade partner of the Shanghai port, with January's trade volume totaling US$5.23 billion.

Shanghai port's exports to the United States, its number one destination market, totaled US$3.67 billion in January, while imports from its largest exporter, Japan, totaled US$1.8 billion.

The port's export of textiles continued to grow in January thanks to the elimination of quotas in the worldwide textile trade.

Imports of unwrought copper and iron ore reported at least a 50- percent rise year-on-year because of lowered tariffs on energy products and exhaustible resources.