Imports of digital cameras through Shanghai Port, a leading port of China, surged by 73 percent to reach 350,000 in the first half of the year over the same period of 2003, according to the latest statistics released by port authorities.

Insiders attribute the increase to China's cancellation of import quotas for cameras and the reduction of tariffs on imported digital cameras from 15 percent to 10 percent. Another factor was that the prices of digital cameras dropped drastically on Japanese and other foreign markets.

China put into effect an annual temporary tariff on imported digital camera accessories starting June 1 this year, reducing the tariffs from 12 percent to 6 percent. As a result, the imported accessories of digital camera via Shanghai Port were worth 3.68 million US dollars in June, compared with less than 470,000 US dollars for the January-May period.