Foreign trade of China's economic powerhouse hits record high

GUANGZHOU - Guangdong province, a powerhouse of China's economy, has reported a new record in its foreign trade for the first three quarters of the year, with imports and exports reaching 6.75 trillion yuan ($951 billion), a year-on-year increase of 11.1 percent.

The province's exports stood at 4.39 trillion yuan in the period, up 9.1 percent year-on-year, while imports totaled 2.36 trillion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 15 percent, Zhang Ke, deputy director of the Guangdong sub-administration of the General Administration of Customs of China, said at a news conference on Monday.

Guangdong's foreign trade now represents 20.9 percent of the nation's total, maintaining its leading position with a major contribution to the nation's growth. The province's foreign trade growth rate outpaced the national average by 5.8 percentage points.

The new historic high of Guangdong's foreign trade scale for the same period has demonstrated the strong economic resilience and vitality of the province, Zhang said.

The city of Shenzhen, a national tech hub in Guangdong, also achieved a record high with a total foreign trade volume of 3.37 trillion yuan for the same period, surging by 20.9 percent year-on-year, according to Shenzhen customs.

Shenzhen's exports and imports both hit a record high, with exports up 19.7 percent year-on-year to 2.14 trillion yuan and imports amounting to 1.23 trillion yuan, representing a 23.1 percent year-on-year increase.

Private enterprises in Shenzhen were the major force for the growth, contributing to 70.9 percent of the city's total foreign trade in the first three quarters. They posted exports and imports totaling 2.39 trillion yuan, up 30.8 percent year-on-year.