Shanghai's economy expands steadily in October

Shanghai's economy grew steadily in October as industrial output, consumer prices and foreign trade all rose.

The city's foreign trade in October jumped 14.3 percent from a year earlier to 266.08 billion yuan (US$40.22 billion), reversing a 5.7 percent drop in the same month last year, according to Shanghai Statistics Bureau.

Imports surged 18 percent to 154.65 billion yuan while exports rose 9.6 percent to 111.43 billion yuan compared to October last year.

Exports of machinery and electronics rose 9.3 percent to 81.67 billion yuan from the same month last year, accounting for 73.3 percent of Shanghai’s total exports in October. Exports of high-tech products grew 7.6 percent to 53.55 billion yuan.

The European Union was one of Shanghai's major export markets with shipments there jumping 29.2 percent to 19.41 billion yuan. Exports to the United States, however, fell 7.4 percent.

Of the city's six key industrial sectors, the output of high-quality steel manufacturing industry grew fastest by 6.2 percent to 11.32 billion yuan, while the output of automobile manufacturing and petrochemical and fine chemicals sectors both rose by 3.2 percent from the same month last year.

Shanghai port’s cargo throughput grew 3.9 percent to 61.80 million tons from October 2016. The container throughput rose 5.5 percent to 3.39 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).

The city's Consumer Price Index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 1.5 percent in October year on year, and grew 1.7 percent annually from January to October.