Shanghai's foreign trade hit a record high of 4.06 trillion yuan ($640 billion) in 2021, with a robust year-on-year increase of 16.5 percent, data from Shanghai Customs showed Monday.

Last year, the metropolis in eastern China saw exports rise 14.6 percent year-on-year to 1.57 trillion yuan, while its imports jumped 17.7 percent to 2.49 trillion yuan, which led to a trade deficit of 917.3 billion yuan, said the customs authority.

During the same period, the value of imports and exports between Shanghai and the European Union (EU), its largest foreign-trade partner, reached 806.93 billion yuan, up 15.8 percent year-on-year. The number accounted for 19.9 percent of Shanghai's total value.

Meanwhile, the metropolis' trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United States and Japan totaled 538.08 billion yuan, 508.12 billion yuan and 411.56 billion yuan, accounting for 13.2 percent, 12.5 percent and 10.1 percent of total foreign trade value, respectively.

In 2021, Shanghai saw its exports of mechanical and electrical products hit 1.08 trillion yuan, an increase of 14 percent, making up 68.7 percent of the city's total export value. In particular, the city registered surging exports of automobiles, increasing by 206 percent to 57.01 billion yuan.

The customs authority also noted the increasing imports of integrated circuits in the metropolis, exceeding 300 billion yuan and making it the largest category of imported goods.

Privately owned businesses contributed 1.1 trillion yuan of Shanghai's foreign trade, which increased by 32.5 percent year-on-year, accounting for 27.1 percent of the total trade, 3.2 percentage points higher than that of 2020.