Foreign-invested companies in East China's Jiangsu Province recorded US$59.36 billion in foreign trade in the first half of this year, a year-on-year growth of 71.6 percent.

The amount made up 78.7 percent of the province's total international trade, which stood at US$76.12 billion for the period, according to latest local customs statistics.

Between January and June, the foreign-funded businesses exported US$27.332 billion worth of goods, or 72.74 percent of the Jiangsu's total export volume of US$37.58 billion for the six months, local customs sources said.

In the first half of this year, 7,539 foreign-funded businesses in Jiangsu sold goods abroad, or 65.05 percent of the province's total exporters.

Of the 49 Jiangsu companies exporting goods valued at more than US$100 million, 39 were foreign-invested, with a combined export volume at US$13.25 billion for the January-June period.

The businesses exported US$14.28 billion worth of new- and high-tech goods in the first half of the year, claiming 95.39 percent of the province's total of such exports, the customs sources added.

(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2004)