The figure breaks down into 22.62 billion dollars of exports, up 22.5 percent, and 23.74 billion dollars of imports, up 19.3 percent.

Electronic information, auto parts, energy, bio-medicine, offshore oil, metallurgy, machinery and textiles were listed as major export commodities.

Binhai New Area contributed 71.8 percent to the total foreign trade of Tianjin, the leading port city in north China, last year.

The fast rise of foreign trade has brought a rapid increase in the number of foreign-funded businesses in Binhai. One hundred andfifteen companies on the Fortune 500 list have invested in Tianjin,and more than 70 of them are based in Binhai.

In 2006, Binhai's foreign-funded businesses contributed 41.23 billion dollars of foreign trade with a 23.2-percent increase from2005, making up 88.9 percent of the area's total foreign trade.

The Binhai New Area, 120 kilometers to the southeast of Beijing,is a national pilot reform base listed in the country's development plan for the 2006-2010 period. Upon completion, it will cover 2,270 square kilometers.

The central government plans to turn the area to be the country's third economic engine, following Shenzhen and Shanghai'sPudong, the economic powerhouses of the southern and eastern coastal areas.

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