The 9 mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) collectively generated a record-breaking 4.96 trillion yuan in foreign trade during the first seven months of 2024, CCTV reported yesterday, citing Guangdong customs data.
The figure represents an increase of 14.3 percent year-on-year and sets a new record for the value of foreign trade produced by the cities for the period spanning January to July. In July alone, the amount of foreign trade from the 9 mainland cities reached a value of 769.69 billion yuan, a surge of 16.1 percent in comparison to the same month last year.
The current data further reaffirms the GBA’s importance in terms of driving economic growth in Guangdong and the rest of China.
As earlier figures cited by Chinese media outlets indicate, the 9 mainland cities in the region registered 4.2 trillion yuan in foreign trade in the first half of this year, accounting for just over 96 percent of the foreign trade value in Guangdong province. That total also represents a year-on-year growth of 14.1 percent, exceeding the nationwide 6.1 percent increase and the 13.8 percent growth for the whole of Guangdong province.
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In terms of individual cities, Shenzhen performed exceptionally well, accounting for over half of the foreign trade in Guangdong and taking the top spot nationwide, with a record breaking total of 2.2 trillion yuan during the first half of this year.
The city of Dongguan also saw robust results, reporting increases of 0.6 percent in the value of its foreign trade during the first quarter, followed by a 5.8 percent growth in the second quarter. Its foreign trade reached a value of 637.51 billion yuan in the first half of 2024.
Other cities such as Huizhou and Zhongshan performed strongly as well. The former registered a record breaking foreign trade total of 185.24 billion yuan and has had 16 months of consecutive growth since February of last year. Zhongshan’s foreign trade volume, meanwhile, reached 136.96 billion yuan in the first half of this year, a rise of 12.6 percent in comparison to the corresponding period last year.
As for Zhuhai, its foreign trade was valued at 153.97 billion yuan during the first six months, a jump of almost 11 percent year-on-year. Jiangmen, on the other hand, saw its imports and exports break the 90 billion yuan mark for the first time, with a year-on-year growth of 10.7 percent. Finally, Zhaoqing’s foreign trade grew by 4.5 percent year-on-year, registering a record breaking total of 17.8 billion yuan.
