Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai Port registered nearly US$27.6 billion of import and export volumes with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) last year, an increase of 47 percent from the previous year, according to the Shanghai Customs yesterday.
Shanghai handled more than US$14.5 billion of imports and over US$13 billion of exports with ASEAN in 2004, up 45 percent and 49 percent respectively over the 2003 figures.
Three years ago, China signed the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation with the ASEAN to launch the China-ASEAN free trade zone.
Last year, China and ASEAN signed the Agreement on Trade in Goods and the Agreement on a Dispute Settlement Mechanism. The ten countries in ASEAN have accepted China's complete market economy status.
Among the ASEAN, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia ranked the top five countries in trade volumes with the Shanghai Port last year, with a combined trade volume of more than US$25.8 billion, up more than 40 percent from the previous year.
Shanghai Port reported trade volumes of US$7.3 billion with Singapore last year, up 42 percent from a year before; with Vietnam topping US$1 billion for the first time and with Brunei jumping by 1.6 times as compared to the previous year.