China's hi-tech product imports and exports have registered strong growth for the first four months of the year, reaching US$61.426 billion in total, a rise of 49.82 percent over the same period last year.
According to the statistics released by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, hi-tech product imports were US$33.507 billion and exports reached US$27.919 billion, up 48.5 percent and 51.5 percent respectively over the corresponding period last year.
Growth of hi-tech imports and exports increased their share of all foreign trade, and accounted for 27.5 percent and 22.9 percent of the total volume, respectively.
Statistics showed that hi-tech product exports in April hit a record-high of US$8.083 billion, up 56.65 percent.
Sources with the ministry said that China's exports of hi-tech products had risen by 35.22 percent annually since 1999 when a strategy of boosting foreign trade in science and technology was launched.
Hi-tech product exports have made increasingly important contributions to China's foreign trade and national economy.
(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2003)
