Guangdong foreign trade sweeps upward

Guangdong's foreign trade has made significant progress in emerging markets while maintaining good growth momentum in traditional markets during the first eight months of this year.

According to a statement released by Guangdong Customs on Friday, the province's import and export volume with the 17 countries in the Middle East, Latin America and Central Asia have grown rapidly in the eight months ending in August, increasing respectively by 14.6 percent, 18.8 percent and 34.3 percent year-on-year.

Guangdong's trade grew steadily with Hong Kong (17.6 percent), Taiwan (16.8 percent), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (12 percent), the United States (8.5 percent) and the European Union (7.1 percent) from January to August, the statement said.

The five regions and countries are typically the top trade partners of Guangdong.

The proportion of electromechanical product exports exceeded 60 percent in the first eight months, but exports of vessels, electric vehicles and containers performed even better.

According to the statement, exports of vessels, electric vehicles and containers achieved faster growth between January and August, increasing by 47.6 percent — 68.2 percent and 133.1 percent year-on-year, respectively — becoming new growth points in Guangdong's foreign trade.

Guangdong's exports of mechanical and electrical products increased by 10.4 percent year-on-year in the first eight months, accounting for 64.8 percent of Guangdong's total export value.

Mobile phones, automatic data processing equipment and components and household appliances, which are Guangdong's traditional export advantage products, increased by 12.5 percent, 15.5 percent and 16.3 percent respectively, the statement said.

The province's foreign trade volume represented 20.8 percent of the country's total in the first eight months, the statement said.