Guangdong's foreign trade totaled 6.49 trillion yuan in the first seven months of 2026, up 20.5 percent year on year, according to the Guangdong Sub-Administration of the General Administration of Customs (GACC).
The province accounted for 21.6 percent of China's total foreign trade and 24.9 percent of the country's overall trade growth, with its trade volume remaining No. 1 in China.
Exports rose 10.8 percent to 3.8 trillion yuan, while imports jumped 37.4 percent to 2.69 trillion yuan. The trade surplus stood at 1.11 trillion yuan, down 24.5 percent.
Guangzhou Customs officers supervise an air conditioner shipment bound for export. (Photo: Guangdong Sub-Administration of GACC)
Monthly data showed double-digit growth in foreign trade from January to July. In July alone, Guangdong's imports and exports reached 1.01 trillion yuan, up 19 percent.
ASEAN remained Guangdong's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade hitting 1.02 trillion yuan in the first seven months, up 14.2 percent. Trade with Hong Kong SAR reached 990.1 billion yuan, up 47.4 percent; the European Union, 676.93 billion yuan, up 5.2 percent; the United States, 582.5 billion yuan, up 3.8 percent; and Taiwan Province of China, 533.05 billion yuan, up 8.7 percent.
Trade with South Korea grew 44.3 percent, Africa 19.8 percent, India 16.5 percent and Australia 33.2 percent.
Guangdong's exports of mechanical and electrical products reached 2.68 trillion yuan, up 15.1 percent, accounting for 70.5 percent of total exports, 2.6 percentage points higher than the same period last year. Integrated circuit exports surged 58 percent to 320.09 billion yuan. Exports of electrical equipment rose 24.9 percent to 306.08 billion yuan.
The province's foreign trade structure continued to improve, with exports of emerging products maintaining robust growth. Exports of lithium batteries reached 107.62 billion yuan, up 40.3 percent; electric vehicles, 30.65 billion yuan, up 29.8 percent; drones, 12.67 billion yuan, up 23.7 percent; and 3D printers, 9.83 billion yuan, up 120 percent.
A total of 183,000 Guangdong companies conducted import and export business during the first seven months, up 34.7 percent. Private companies accounted for 161,000 of them, an increase of 40.3 percent, with their aggregate trade volume hitting 4.37 trillion yuan, up 26.7 percent. Foreign-invested companies recorded 1.91 trillion yuan in imports and exports, up 13.5 percent, marking their 18th consecutive month of growth.
On the import side, monthly growth remained above 30 percent for five consecutive months. Driven by strong demand from the AI industry, Guangdong's imports of integrated circuits rose 48.6 percent to 1.07 trillion yuan, accounting for 39.6 percent of total imports. Imports of computers and components surged 77.9 percent to 391.22 billion yuan, while imports of copper, a key material for computing infrastructure, rose 36.5 percent to 39.89 billion yuan.
Reporter | Dai Bosi
