The Guangdong Branch of the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China reported on the 19th that in the first half of 2023, Guangdong's foreign trade exports reached 2.55 trillion yuan (RMB, the same below), a record high.
According to the statistics of the department, in the first half of this year, Guangdong's foreign trade import and export was 3.86 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.3% (the same below), of which, the export was 2.55 trillion yuan, a record high, an increase of 3.6%; the import was 1.31 trillion yuan , down 9.6%.
According to the data, in the first half of the year, the scale of import and export of private enterprises in Guangdong Province expanded, and there were 108,000 enterprises with actual import and export performance, an increase of 8.9%, and the number of enterprises hit a record high in the same period; the import and export of private enterprises reached 2.3 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.7% , the proportion of foreign trade increased by 4 percentage points to 60.2%. In the first half of the year, Guangdong's import and export to ASEAN, its largest trading partner, was 639.16 billion yuan, an increase of 3.6%, accounting for 16.6% of the total import and export value; import and export to the EU was 469.38 billion yuan, a decrease of 0.6%; import and export to the United States was 461.18 billion yuan, down 7.6%. During the same period, imports and exports to countries along the “Belt and Road” increased by 7.4%. In addition, sales to Russia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Central Asia increased by 64%, 11.9%, 9.2%, and 48.4% respectively.
According to the data, in the first half of the year, Guangdong's "three new" exports of electric passenger vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar cells increased by 7 times, 27.7%, and 57% respectively. In addition, the export of agricultural products increased by 23.9%, of which, the export of dried and fresh melons and fruits and vegetables increased by 56.1% and 8.3% respectively.
In terms of imports, in the first half of the year, Guangdong's demand for imports of bulk commodities and consumer goods increased. It imported 35.721 million tons of energy products such as crude oil, natural gas, and coal, an increase of 36.5%; it imported 32.582 million tons of iron, aluminum, copper and other metal ores, an increase of 214,000 tons. %. The strong consumption demand of residents has driven the growth of imports of various consumer goods. In the first half of the year, the import of jewelry in Guangdong increased by 10.1 times; the import of meat, aquatic products and dairy products increased by 25.4%, 23.1% and 10.1% respectively.
The department said that looking forward to the second half of the year, factors such as lack of momentum for recovery in external demand and weakening prices will still bring greater pressure on the stability of Guangdong's foreign trade, and the situation in Guangdong's foreign trade is still complicated and severe. But we must also see that Guangdong's economy has strong resilience, great potential, and vitality, and its long-term fundamentals have not changed.