China's business hub Shanghai is among the first Chinese cities to do business with the United States.

Its import and export volume with the world's largest economy, however, reached only 37 billion U.S. dollars in the first 10 months this year, shrinking more than 18 percent from the same period last year, according to the Shanghai customs figures.

Shanghai's export to the U.S. stood at 25.4 billion U.S. dollars in the first 10 months, down 19.48 percent from the same period last year.

When the world is struggling to recover from the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, some countries are "making the same mistakes as before", namely setting trade barriers, said Maurice R. Greenberg, president of the C.V. STARR & Co. Inc, a global investment holding company based in the United States.

The mistake Greeberg referred to was the Smoot-Hawley Tarrif Act adopted by the United States in the 1930s, which raised import duties of more than 20,000 commodities to a historically high level and led to a global trade stagnation.

Shanghai General Motors Company Limited (Shanghai GM), a successful representative of the 6,270 U.S.-funded companies in Shanghai, failed to export its made-in-Shanghai subcompacts to the U.S. market this year due to the boycott in its home country.

GM wants to take advantage of the resources advantage of Shanghai and China to a global sphere but the trade protectionism cast a shadow on the economic globalization, said D. Nick Reilly, president of GM International Operations.

China should be no longer viewed as a producer and dumper of cheap products, he said, citing the example that Shanghai GM has formed a complete product chain in the country and Shanghai is expected to be a leading producer of electric cars and hybrid cars, he said.

The import and export volume of China's foreign-funded companies through the Shanghai Customs reached 252.3 billion U.S. dollars in the first 10 months this year, down 22.6 percent from the previous year, according to the customs.

Trade protectionism in the current financial crisis would stifle the world economy and nobody would be benefited, said Wang Ming, a researcher with the Shanghai International Economy and Trade Research Institute.

"We are especially cautious on the export business to the U.S. as the U.S. import duties on some new products have gone through the roof," said Chen Yi, a sales manager of Ema Precision Electronics Corporation, a US-funded transducer and industrial switches manufacturer in neighboring Suzhou City.

"We do not want to be the victim of the trade disputes," said Chen. "We are very eager for the improvement of trade environment between the two countries, especially at a time of financial crisis."

As two nations with global influence, China and the U.S. should make concerted efforts and strengthen cooperation to contribute more to the world economic recovery, Wang said.