The Bonded Area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone achieved comprehensive economic development in 2021, according to a local authority.

Companies in the area generated a combined operating revenue of 2.48 trillion yuan ($392.58 billion) last year, an increase of 23 percent from the previous year.

The trade sector's commodity sales reached 2.26 trillion yuan, up 23.5 percent year-on-year. Of that, sales of eight commodity categories including consumer electronics, electronic components, petrochemical products, metal and metal mines, medical supplies and devices, as well as mechanical equipment each surpassed 100 billion yuan, while another eight categories including intelligent manufacturing equipment, automobiles and parts, medicines and alcoholic drinks all reported sales revenues of 10 billion yuan or more.

Manufacturing companies above designated size generated 50.13 billion yuan in total output value, an increase of 5.5 percent from that in 2020. The proportion of strategic emerging industries' output value grew from 55.3 percent in 2020 to 57.8 percent in 2021.

Revenue of the logistics sector increased 33 percent year-on-year to 58.7 billion yuan. Notably, international air and sea transport increased by more than 40 percent from 2020.

Furthermore, revenues in the technology service and leasing service sectors climbed by 15 percent and 14 percent, respectively, to reach 37 billion yuan and 30 billion yuan.

The area's imports and exports contributed a lot to the area's economic growth. The total volume reached 1.13 trillion yuan, up 11.6 percent and accounted for 47.2 percent of Pudong's total and 27.8 percent of Shanghai's total.

The import volume was 819.79 billion yuan, up 11 percent. The medicine, medical devices, cosmetics, alcoholic drinks, watches and aircrafts imports all accounted for more than 10 percent of the country's total imports in the same categories.

The export volume was 307.98 billion yuan, up 13.5 percent. Exports to the member states of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership increased by 23.2 percent from the previous year, while that to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative increased by 18.7 percent.

In 2021, 1,271 companies were newly established in the bonded area, up 14 percent from 2020. That included 1,056 domestically funded enterprises with a total registered capital of 75.98 billion yuan and 215 foreign-funded enterprises with a total registered capital of $5.95 billion yuan.