In the first half of 2025, Guangdong's total imports and exports reached 4.55 trillion yuan, marking a year-on-year increase of 4%. The growth rate was faster than the national growth rate by 1.1 percentage points. Exports recorded 2.89 trillion yuan, up 1.1%, while imports rose 9.5% to 1.66 trillion yuan. The total value of imports, exports, and overall trade all hit record highs for the same period.
Despite a challenging and complex global trade environment, Guangdong's foreign trade has maintained positive growth for eight consecutive quarters since Q3 2023. Guangdong accounted for 20.9% of the nation's total foreign trade in the first half, up 0.2 percentage points from the same period last year, contributing 28% to the national trade growth. Guangdong strongly supported both China's foreign trade and the province's economic growth.
Guangdong's trade partners became more diversified. In the first half, trade with ASEAN, the province's largest trading partner, grew by 5.9% to 757.13 billion yuan, accounting for 16.6% of Guangdong's total trade, 0.3 percentage points higher than the same period last year.
Trade with other major partners also rose: Hong Kong SAR by 7.9%, the EU by 7.2%, Taiwan Province of China by 26.2%, Japan by 8.1%, and South Korea by 7.2%, while trade with the U.S. declined by 8.1%. Trade with Belt and Road partner countries reached 1.79 trillion yuan, up 3.8%, including a 23.1% surge in trade with the five Central Asian countries.
A total of 130,000 enterprises in Guangdong recorded actual import or export performance during this period, up 7.6%. Among them, private enterprises numbered 110,000, increasing by 8.6%. Their combined imports and exports reached 2.92 trillion yuan, up 4.3%, accounting for 64.2% of the province's total trade.
Guangdong also accelerated industrial transformation and upgrading. Exports of mechanical and electrical products rose 7.2% to 1.96 trillion yuan, accounting for 67.8% of the province's total exports with an increase of 3.9 percentage points.
Key export items such as computers and parts, electrical equipment, and integrated circuits grew by 15.9%, 17.2%, and 27.1%, respectively. Exports of emerging products like drones, solar batteries, lithium-ion batteries, and electric vehicles recorded robust growth of 29.2% and 28.8% respectively. Exports of self-owned brand products reached 655.27 billion yuan, up 11.2%.
Reporter | Dai Bosi
Photo | Guangdong Sub-administration of GACC
Editor | Hu Nan, James, Shen He
