Shanghai's foreign trade continued its robust expansion in the first eight months of the year, with total imports and exports reaching 3.44 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.1%. August alone saw double-digit growth in both outbound and inbound shipments, with exports rising 16.1% to 212.43 billion yuan and imports climbing 10.5% to 227 billion yuan.
A key driver of this momentum has been bonded logistics, a trade model that highlights Shanghai's role as a global distribution and circulation hub. From January to August, bonded logistics trade surged 32.5% to 1.03 trillion yuan, accounting for 30% of the city's total trade value and serving as a major engine for overall growth.
On the partner front, ASEAN has held its position as Shanghai's largest trading partner for four consecutive months since May. Trade with the bloc reached 546.2 billion yuan in the January-August period, up 30.6% year on year, with Vietnam and Singapore seeing particularly strong gains of 78.3% and 31.4%, respectively. Meanwhile, ties with other emerging markets have also deepened; in August, imports from Africa jumped 21.8% to 53.62 billion yuan, reflecting the ongoing benefits of China's zero-tariff policy for 53 African nations with diplomatic ties.
Artificial intelligence-related goods have been a standout category this year, underscoring Shanghai's deep integration into the global AI supply chain. The city operates a closed loop that begins with importing core components, moves through full domestic assembly, and ends with exporting finished products worldwide. In the first eight months, five categories of AI-related products—integrated circuits, servers, memory modules, hard drives, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment—posted combined trade of 857.87 billion yuan, a 90.7% surge that represented nearly a quarter of Shanghai's total imports and exports during the period. Separately, exports of the "new three" items (electric passenger vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar cells) reached 173.88 billion yuan, up 78.2% year on year.