Guangdong foreign trade surges to record high amid tariff tensions

Guangdong province, China's biggest foreign trader, purchased 798.15 billion yuan ($112.42 billion) worth of products from overseas nations and regions in the first quarter of the year. The figure witnessed a year-on-year growth of 9.3 percent, according to Guangdong Customs on Thursday.

Guangdong's steady import growth has helped the province, a global production base, achieve a total foreign trade volume of 2.14 trillion yuan from January to March, up 4.2 percent year-on-year and 2.9 percentage points higher than the country's foreign trade growth rate, the statement from Guangdong Customs showed.

The southern province sold 1.34 trillion yuan worth of goods abroad in the first three months, up 1.4 percent year over year, the statement said.

Guangdong achieved positive growth with its top five trading partners in the first three months.

In the first quarter, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations maintained its position as Guangdong's largest trading partner. Guangdong's imports and exports with ASEAN hit 349.43 billion yuan in the first three months, a 6.9 percent year-on-year increase.

The province's foreign trade with the nations and regions involved in the country's Belt and Road Initiative also increased by 3.3 percent year-on-year, it said.

Foreign-funded companies and joint ventures reached a foreign trade volume of 677.03 billion yuan, an increase of 5.3 percent year over year.

Guangdong imported mechanical and electrical products worth 554.83 billion yuan in the first quarter, a rapid increase of 24.2 percent year-on-year, accounting for 69.5 percent of the province's total import value.

Among them, imports of crucial electronic components and equipment, such as computers and their components, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and integrated circuits, surged by 167.4 percent, 92.8 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

During the same period, Guangdong's import demand for consumer goods like beauty cosmetics, toiletries, dairy products, and aquatic products bounced back, rising by 28.1 percent, 23 percent and 17.9 percent, respectively, as reported.