Guangdong reports stabe trade growth despite headwinds

Containers are piled up at Nansha Port in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, in April. [Photo/China News Service]

Guangdong province's foreign trade with the United States and European Union witnessed double-digit year-on-year growth in the first eight months of the year, despite trade conflicts and the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to statistics revealed by Guangdong Customs on Thursday, the southern province's import and export with the US and EU increased year-on-year by 12.5 percent and 10 percent respectively from January to August.

Guangdong's foreign trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the province's biggest trading partner, also grew year-on-year by 3.8 percent to reach 830.28 billion yuan ($122 billion) in the eight months ending in August, the office said in a statement.

ASEAN, the United States, the EU, Hong Kong and Taiwan are traditionally the top five trading partners of Guangdong province, which is China's biggest foreign trader. Guangdong's foreign trade volume annually represents around 22 percent of the country's total.

The rapid trade growth with the US and EU has helped Guangdong, one of the world's major production bases, achieve a total foreign trade volume of more than 5.27 trillion yuan in the first eight months this year, up year-on-year by 0.6 percent.

The province sold more than 3.34 trillion yuan of products abroad while purchasing goods valued at 1.93 trillion yuan from around the world between January and August.

The province's exports enjoyed year-on-year growth of 4.9 percent, while its imports saw a year-on-year decline of 6.1 percent in the first eight months.

Guangdong's trade volume with Taiwan island also enjoyed year-on-year growth of 2.9 percent while its trade volume with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region saw a year-on-year reduction of 12.9 percent between January and August.

Guangdong's exports of new energy vehicles and lithium-ion batteries have witnessed rapid growth since the beginning of the year. The province's export of electric vehicles increased year-on-year 1.8 times, while offshore sales of lithium-ion batteries grew year-on-year by 51.3 percent in the first eight months.

The province's exports of other major mechanical and electrical products also achieved positive growth.

Guangdong's exports of electrical equipment increased year-on-year by 20.1 percent, automatic data processing equipment and constituent parts by 13.6 percent and exports of mobile phones by 1.5 percent from January to August.