Guangdong province’s foreign exports and imports totaled 8.3 trillion yuan (US$1.16 trillion) in 2023 – setting a new annual record by a whisker (0.3 percent), according to a report by Yicai Global.
Official data showed that exports rose by 2.5 percent, year-on-year, reaching 5.4 trillion yuan. Imports, meanwhile, fell by 3.6 percent to 2.9 trillion yuan.
Trade between Guangdong and the US grew by 8.7 percent when compared with 2022. Collective trade with Belt and Road Initiative countries was up by 4.7 percent, and by 4.3 percent with the European Union.
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The number of foreign trade enterprises operating in the province topped 130,000 for the first time last year. Private firms, which make up about 80 percent of the total, accounted for a collective 5.04 trillion yuan of the province’s annual trade.
The deputy head of Guangzhou Customs District, Li Yu, said that Guangdong was working to make both imports and exports clearance more efficient and planned to cooperate more with privately owned firms in order to better understand their requirements.
Guangdong has the largest economy of all of China’s 23 provinces, with its GDP reaching 6.29 trillion yuan (US$882 billion) in the first half of last year.
