Ningbo, a major port in east China's Zhejiang Province, has witnessed robust growth in its foreign sales of mobile phones so far this year.

According to local customs sources, Ningbo exported 213,600 cell phones, or 16.3 million US dollars worth, in the first 10 months of the year, up 71.4 percent and 140 percent respectively from the year-earlier level.

The state-owned enterprises, which claimed an overwhelming share of 99.9 percent of cell phone exports via the port last year, had the foreign sales decrease by 57.3 percent year on year to 51,500 sets between January and October.

Meanwhile, domestic private businesses and foreign-invested companies exported 129,000 and 25,100 cell phones, respectively, or 60.4 percent and 11.8 percent of the port's total for the 10-month period.

Local customs sources owed the fast growth of cell phone exports to an increase in rebates for the foreign sales and to a saturated market at home.  
 
(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2005)