Guangdong province recorded over 4.55 trillion yuan (US$633.9 billion) in foreign trade during the first half of the year, according to figures released by provincial customs authorities on Friday, China Daily reports.
Its 4 percent increase beat the national average by 1.1 percent, despite an 8.1 percent drop in two-trade with the US compared with the same period last year, due to the tumultuous tariff war that has been waged by Washington since April.
Zhang Ke, deputy director of the Guangdong sub-administration of the General Administration of Customs of China, said Guangdong exported 2.89 trillion yuan (US$402.6 billion) worth of products during the first half of the year, and imported goods worth 1.66 trillion yuan (US$321.3 billion) from the rest of the world.
[See more: China’s exports beat expectations in June]
The figures represented growth of 1.1 percent and 9.5 percent year-on-year, respectively. Zhang described them as a record high for the province and added that the province was actively diversifying its “circle of friends.”
Trade with the five Central Asian nations, for instance, was up by 23.1 percent year-on-year. The Central Asian countries belong to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which saw a collective increase of 3.8 percent.
Guangdong recorded growth of 5.9 percent with its biggest trade partner, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Other major trade partners the European Union, Japan and South Korea also experienced year-on-year growth.
