Total foreign trade in south China's Guangdong Province contracted by 7.1 percent year on year to 3.06 trillion yuan (about 438 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of this year, customs statistics showed.

The decline narrowed by 1.7 percentage points compared with that in the first five months, indicating a gradual trade recovery. The total trade volume of the province in the second quarter surged by 23 percent quarter on quarter, according to the Guangdong customs.

The export volume dropped 8.5 percent year on year to 1.82 trillion yuan in H1, while the import volume contracted 5 percent to 1.24 trillion yuan.

Trade volume contributed by private companies rose 0.6 percent year on year to 1.68 trillion yuan, accounting for 54.8 percent of Guangdong's total.

The ASEAN remains the largest trading partner of the province, with the trade volume up 6.8 percent year on year to 470.84 billion yuan in H1.

The export of anti-epidemic materials surged by 1.7 times to 94.15 billion yuan, and imported consumption goods rose by 10.5 percent to 116.81 billion yuan.