Trade growth accelerates in Guangdong through April

Trade growth accelerated in Guangdong province, China's biggest foreign trader, in imports and exports in the first four months of this year, according to a statement released by Guangdong Customs on Wednesday.

Trade with the province saw a steady increase with each of its major partners, excluding the United States, from January to April, the statement said.

Guangdong's trade increased with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (up 7.5 percent), Hong Kong (up 7.6 percent), the European Union (up 7.7 percent) and Taiwan (up 33.2 percent) year-on-year for the first four months.

The province's trade with the U.S., however, fell year-on-year by 3.8 percent in the first four months, the statement said. ASEAN countries, Hong Kong, the European Union, the U.S. and Taiwan are typically the top five trading partners of Guangdong, a global production base.

Meanwhile, the province's trade volume with African countries saw growth of 7.5 percent. Trade with the five countries of Central Asia grew by 24.2 percent in the first four months, showcasing Guangdong's diversification of trade, the statement said.

Guangdong achieved a trade volume of 2.96 trillion yuan ($410.9 billion) from January to April, a year-on-year increase of 4.9 percent — 2.5 percentage points faster than the national average.

It sold 1.86 trillion yuan worth of products abroad (up by 2.1 percent), while purchasing goods valued at 1.1 trillion yuan from the rest of the world (up by 2.1 percent) year-on-year, the statement said.

In the first four months, Guangdong sold mechanical and electrical products valued 1.26 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.5 percent — 5.4 percentage points faster than Guangdong's overall export growth rate. That accounts for 67.7 percent of the province's total export volume.

A number of products saw more sales, including computers and components (up 18.2 percent), electrical equipment (up 16.2 percent), household appliances (up 2.7 percent) and integrated circuits (up 17.7 percent).

In the first four months, Guangdong purchased mechanical and electrical products worth 766.96 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.3 percent — 12.2 percentage points faster than Guangdong's overall import growth rate. This accounted for 69.8 percent of Guangdong's total import volume.

During the same period, Guangdong's import increases included cosmetics and toiletries (21.4 percent), aquatic (21.5 percent) and dairy products (27 percent).