Shanghai posted a contraction in total trade for 2012, the first time in three years, with exports falling 1.4 percent, while imports continued to increase at 1 percent, according to a report released by the Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau on Monday.

 

The service sector has become an economic growth engine in the municipality, the bureau said.

 

Combined trade totaled $437 billion, down 0.2 percent from 2011. The fall in exports to $207 billion was largely attributed to decreased orders for a wide range of consumer goods from the hundreds of thousands of small to medium-sized enterprises in the municipality.

 

While the trade decrease could possibly hinder Shanghai's bid to be the regional trade hub, economists said the figures faithfully reflect the gathering pace of the city's transformation into a higher value-added service-oriented economy. The service sector, including finance, property, tourism and communications, expanded to 1.2 trillion yuan ($192.8 billion) in 2012, up 10.6 percent from a year before.

 

On the whole, the service sector contributed to about 60 percent of the city's economy, up from 58 percent in 2011, replacing trade as the main engine of growth, as reflected in the 7.5 percent rise in GDP in the city, which reached 2.01 trillion yuan.

 

The city government has been focusing its efforts in promoting the service sector with the aim of establishing Shanghai as an international financial center that can rival New York, London and Hong Kong. 

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