SHANGHAI -- Shanghai's private enterprises imported and exported 410.43 billion yuan ($58.25 billion) worth of goods in the first seven months of this year, up 10.4 percent year on year, local authorities said Monday.

The growth rate was 1.5 percentage points higher than the year-on-year growth in the first half of 2019, showing that Shanghai's private enterprises have picked up the pace in foreign trade in July, according to the city's customs authorities.

Over the period, Shanghai's private enterprises accounted for 21.8 percent of the city's foreign trade volume.

The robust growth in the private enterprises' foreign trade has promoted the continued optimization of the structure of Shanghai's foreign trade.

From January to July, Shanghai's general trade imports and exports totaled 992.9 billion yuan, up 1.6 percent year on year, accounting for more than half of the city's foreign trade volume. In contrast, the processing trade fell 8.2 percent.