China's Guangdong Q1 foreign trade hits 2.04 trillion yuan

China

Guangdong Province, a prominent hub for manufacturing and foreign trade in southern China, has announced a historic peak in foreign trade, reaching 2.04 trillion yuan (approximately $281.86 billion) from January to March 2023.

This marks a 12 percent increase compared to the corresponding period in the previous year, solidifying the province's leading status in the nation's trade landscape, according to China Central Television.

Zhang Ke, Deputy Director of the Guangdong Branch of the General Administration of Customs, announced during a press conference that imports in Guangdong surged to 731.14 billion yuan in the initial three months, marking a 17.6 percent rise compared to the previous year. Additionally, exports experienced a nine percent expansion, reaching 1.31 trillion yuan within the same time frame.

Guangdong's impressive foreign trade performance is attributed to five key factors: fast overall growth, strong vitality of business entities, stable trading partners, robust export momentum, and increased import volumes.

Zhang highlighted that imports and exports of private enterprises, mainly small, medium, and micro companies, reached 1.28 trillion yuan, growing by 19.2 percent and accounting for 62.9 percent of Guangdong's total import and export value. ASEAN remains the province's largest trading partner, with imports and exports standing at 324.42 billion yuan, a growth of 5.3 percent.