Foreign trade continued to increase quickly in the first quarter, according to the General Administration of Customs yesterday, but though growth of imports lagged behind that of exports, exporters said it did not mean that imports growth would stagnate.

"I would attribute this comparatively low rate of growth in imports to a large imports base in March last year," said Gao Hong, researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Trade volume hit US$295.2 billion in the first three months of 2005, reflecting a year-on-year increase of more than 23 percent.

Exports increased nearly 35 percent to US$155.9 billion, while imports grew 12.2 percent to US$139.3 billion - a trade surplus of US$16.6 billion.

Both general trade and processing trade continued to grow robustly.

In March, exports stood at US$60.87 billion, up 32.8 percent on 2004, and imports reached US$55.14 billion, up 18.6 percent.

The month's trade surplus of US$5.73 billion compared favorably to the deficit of US$540 million in March 2004, when imports grew by 40 percent year-on-year to US$45.8 billion.

Economic ties with major trade partners were also strengthened in the first quarter of this year.

With bilateral trade volume worth US$47.1 billion, the EU ranked first among China's trade partners. The US and Japan took second and third places with trade volumes of US$43.6 billion and US$41.2 billion respectively.

Meanwhile, steady growth in tax revenue was reported in the first three months, according to the State Administration of Taxation, up 20.4 percent on the previous year to 756 billion yuan (US$91.1 billion).

Tax rebates for exports reached 67.2 billion yuan (US$8.1 billion) during this period, which is also seen as supporting foreign trade growth.

In the first quarter, US$84 billion in foreign trade of high-tech products was reported, up 26.2 percent on the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).

At a press conference held on Monday in Beijing at the China Hi-Tech Fair 2005, Wei Jianguo, vice minister of commerce, said that the high-tech industry has maintained rapid development and witnessed booming foreign trade.

From January to March this year, imports of high-tech commodities were valued at US$40.29 billion, up 20.4 percent year-on-year, while exports stood at US$43.7 billion, up 32.3 percent.

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2005)