Exports rose 22.3 percent to US$325.57 billion and imports grew 21.2 percent to US$295.22 billion. China's trade surplus stood at US$30.35 billion.

Chinese customs will continue to upgrade the efficiency and quality of their services to support the growth of foreign trade, Mou Xinsheng, director-general of the General Administration of Customs, said Thursday.

He urged customs and ports to continue reforms and ensure the quick, convenient or paperless passage of goods this year.

The director-general spoke at the three-day national conference of customs directors, which concluded Thursday.

Chinese customs have taken a series of measures in recent years to improve their processing of goods and ease congestion. These include more convenient passage for high-tech and new technology companies and paperless transfer of goods at 16 coastal customs.

It now takes about four hours for goods to reach companies from airports in key port cities, such as east China's Shanghai and Shenzhen of south China's Guangdong Province, compared with over two days before the measures were taken, said customs officials.

Mou said Chinese customs should focus on the integration of different reforms this year.

He also called on customs to maintain intense supervision of foreign trade and to crack down on smuggling.

Chinese customs investigated 9,818 smuggling cases involving 5.28 billion yuan (US$637.6 million) last year and took measures against 3,491 suspects.

The tough stance on smuggling has contributed to the continued growth in customs revenue, said Mou. Net revenue from customs duties and import-related taxes reached a record high 259.06 billion yuan (US$31.29 billion) last year.

It also helped stabilize domestic prices for refined oil, edible oil, telecommunications equipment, textiles and steel, and improve the business environment for key industries such as petroleum, petrochemical, information, textile and metallurgy, Mou said.

Processing trade increased 25.2 percent year-on-year to US$302.17 billion, making up 48.8 percent of China's total foreign trade.

Imports and exports of collectively owned and private companies, which have been able to trade overseas after China's entry to the World Trade Organization in late 2001, increased 57.1 percent to US$53.22 billion.

Machinery and electronic products led the growth in exports, and exports of traditional, labour-intensive products have also bounced back, customs statistics show.

China's foreign trade with Japan, its largest trading partner, reached US$101.91 billion. The United States and European Union ranked second and third in terms of total trade volume with China, exporting and importing US$97.18 billion and US$86.76 billion with China last year respectively.

(Xinhua News Aagency January 10, 2003)