The foreign trade in Guangdong province has maintained robust growth in the first seven months of 2024, with the total value of imports and exports reaching 5.17 trillion RMB, marking a 13.9% increase year on year, according to data released by the Guangdong Sub-Administration of the GACC on August 12. This growth rate surpasses the national average by 7.7 percentage points, with Guangdong accounting for 20.8% of the country's total foreign trade.

Monthly Performance Highlights

In July alone, Guangdong's imports and exports amounted to 800.03 billion RMB, reflecting a 15.5% increase, and the province has experienced four consecutive months of double-digit growth. Exports for the month totaled 519.57 billion RMB, up by 16.5%, while imports reached 280.46 billion RMB, growing by 13.8%. 

Composition of Trade

The share of general trade in Guangdong's overall trade continues to rise. In the first seven months, general trade recorded an import and export value of 3.06 trillion RMB, a 16.2% increase, which now constitutes 59.3% of the province's total foreign trade—up 1.2 percentage points from the same period last year. Meanwhile, processing trade accounted for 20.9%, registering a growth of 3.3%, and bonded logistics surged by 25.8%, making up 18.8%.

Private enterprises have also made significant contributions, with their total import and export value reaching 3.3 trillion RMB, marking a 21.1% growth—outpacing Guangdong's overall growth rate by 7.2 percentage points. These companies represent 63.9% of Guangdong's foreign trade. Meanwhile, foreign-invested enterprises saw an increase of 2.9%, totaling 1.59 trillion RMB, and state-owned enterprises recorded a rise of 2.3% to 260.12 billion RMB.

Market Dynamics

Guangdong has shown resilience in its traditional markets while also strengthening ties with emerging markets. For instance, trade with Hong Kong SAR, the United States, the European Union (EU), Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) all realized positive growth rates of 17.6%, 11.4%, 7.7%, 3.5%, and 25.4%, respectively. Emerging markets such as ASEAN, Latin America, 17 countries in the Middle East, and 5 countries in Central Asia recorded impressive growth rates of 13%, 20.8%, 16.1%, and 31.1%.

Key Export Products

The primary export goods from Guangdong also showed encouraging trends. In the first seven months, the export of electromechanical products grew by 10.9%, constituting 64.6% of the province's total exports. Specific categories, including automatic data processing equipment, home appliances, and mobile phones, saw growth rates of 17%, 17.4%, and 9.6%, respectively. Notably, the export of ships, electric vehicles, and containers skyrocketed, increasing by 53.7%, 70.2%, and an astonishing 123%.

Additionally, Guangdong has accelerated imports of certain electromechanical products and bulk commodities. In the first seven months, integrated circuit imports rose by 19.1%, totaling 623.15 billion RMB, and further significant increases were seen in automatic data processing equipment and accessories (1.4 times), as well as semiconductor manufacturing equipment imports (1.7 times). Guangdong imported a total of 57.767 million tons of coal, crude oil, and natural gas, an increase of 33.3%, with a value of 78.83 billion RMB, which was an increase of 13.4%.