Guangdong's foreign trade down 7.1% in H1

GUANGZHOU - Total foreign trade in South China's Guangdong province contracted by 7.1 percent year-on-year to 3.06 trillion yuan ($438 billion) in the first half of this year, customs statistics showed.

The decline narrowed by 1.7 percentage points compared with that in the first five months, indicating a gradual trade recovery. The total trade volume of the province in the second quarter surged by 23 percent quarter-on-quarter, according to the Guangdong customs.

The export volume dropped 8.5 percent year-on-year to 1.82 trillion yuan in H1, while the import volume contracted 5 percent to 1.24 trillion yuan.

Trade volume contributed by private companies rose 0.6 percent year-on-year to 1.68 trillion yuan, accounting for 54.8 percent of Guangdong's total.

The ASEAN remains the largest trading partner of the province, with the trade volume up 6.8 percent year-on-year to 470.84 billion yuan in H1.

The export of anti-epidemic materials surged by 1.7 times to 94.15 billion yuan, and imported consumption goods rose by 10.5 percent to 116.81 billion yuan.