Guangdong companies hit hard in 1st half of 2012

Many economic indexes decreased substantially in Guangdong province, one of the country's economic powerhouses, in the first half of the year.

The same period also saw various companies there operating in the red.

According to The Report on Guangdong's Economic Development in the First Half of 2012 and the Implementation of Social Development Plans, the amount of Guangdong's exports to the European Union decreased by 5.3 percent in the first six months of the year. That rate of decrease was 4 percentage points greater than it had been in the first three months of the year.

Meanwhile, many import-and-export companies said they processed fewer export orders in the first half of the year.

Under pressure from the Eurozone crisis in Europe and increasing labor costs, various manufacturing companies in Guangdong have closed their operations or moved into other industries, the report said.