China sold abroad 1.4 million vessels in the first seven months of this year, a growth of 170 percent on the same period of last year, customs sources said on Tuesday.

The exports were valued at US$10.58 billion, up 61.6 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The administration attributed the growth to the nation's comparative advantages in labor cost, ship building technology and infrastructure for the business.

The total export value included US$3.49 billion for container vessels, up 81.7 percent, US$2.84 billion for liquid cargo ships, up 53.3 percent, and US$2.04 billion for bulk cargo ships, up 54.6 percent. The three categories combined to account for 79.2 percent of the total ship export value.

Nearly 90 percent of the exports were achieved through processing trade.

Of the total export value, 63.4 percent, or US$6.71 billion was earned by state-owned enterprises, up 35.9 percent. Foreign-funded and private businesses recorded export value of US$2.28 billion and US$1.24 billion, respectively, up 150 percent and 170 percent.

The European Union, ASEAN members and Hong Kong were the major target markets of the ship exports by the Chinese mainland.

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2008)