In the first half of the year, China's foreign trade demonstrated robust growth and resilience, with total import and export value of goods reaching 25.47 trillion yuan. Notably, Guangdong's foreign trade volume exceeded the 5 trillion yuan mark for the first time, accounting for 21.6% of the national total. The province contributed a trade increment of 944.7 billion yuan, accounting for over a quarter of the nation's total foreign trade growth, with several key indicators leading the country.
Amidst heightened global market volatility this year, what has driven Guangdong's exceptional foreign trade performance? The province, a top performer in sales, has leveraged its comprehensive advantages across entire industrial chains to achieve breakthroughs against the trend, consistently setting new historical records through the combined effects of new technologies, new industries, new markets, and new business models.
Emerging Technologies: Rise of High Value-Added Products
At the Nansha Longxue Island in Guangzhou, the world's fourth 10,000-vehicle-class car carrier is docked quietly, scheduled for completion and delivery next Tuesday. This "sea giant," independently developed by China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) Guangzhou Shipyard International, has a maximum vehicle capacity of 10,800 units per vessel, ushering in the "10,000-vehicle era" for automotive maritime transport.
Historically, insufficient capacity, unstable schedules, and high freight costs for car carriers were three major pain points constraining China's automotive exports. As China's automobile exports continue to lead globally, the emergence of "Chinese-made 10,000-vehicle mega-ships" has addressed these challenges.
On April 28 this year, the first 10,000-vehicle-class car carrier was delivered in Nansha. This 230-meter-long, 40-meter-wide vessel with 14 decks now primarily carries new energy vehicles, a key driver of China's foreign trade growth.
The rise of Chinese-built ships has not only facilitated smoother and more efficient exports of Chinese automobiles but also spurred explosive growth in exports of categories like vessels. In the first half, Guangdong's exports of green and low-carbon products were impressive, with electric vehicle exports growing by 35.3%. During the same period, the province's ship exports increased by 67%, and exports of ships and offshore engineering equipment rose by 52.3%.
Innovative breakthroughs are crucial to the success of these products. "To accommodate different types of vehicles, this 10,000-vehicle-class carrier features five adjustable decks; to optimize energy consumption, it is equipped with an LNG system and a solar power system alongside conventional power; and to address stability challenges from its 46-meter height, we developed an intelligent thin-plate production line, extensively adopting 6mm thin-plate construction technology, breaking foreign technological monopolies," said He Yongcai, project manager for the CSSC Guangzhou Shipyard International 10,800-vehicle LNG dual-fuel car carrier.
This advancement has enhanced China's shipbuilding industry's capability to produce more high-end, high-value-added vessel types. Taking Guangzhou as an example, ship exports in the first half reached 16.88 billion yuan, a 63.8% increase, with over 90% being self-owned brands. "High-end vessels like container ships, liquid cargo ships, and dual-fuel car carriers have achieved nearly 100% self-owned brand export, with a significant rise in high-end vessel orders," said Huang Bin, Deputy Director of Guangzhou Customs.
Currently, Guangzhou Shipyard International holds orders totaling over 100 billion yuan, with international orders exceeding 90%, and its production schedule is fully booked until 2030.
New Industries: New Quality Productive Forces Create Incremental Growth
Looking east from the bow of the 10,000-vehicle mega-ship towards the Pearl River Estuary, cargo vessels navigate bustling waterways amidst towering buildings, where emerging industrial clusters are gathering. Cutting-edge industries like artificial intelligence are also creating new incremental space for foreign trade.
"AI products are engines for expanding foreign trade volume and optimizing its structure. Since the beginning of this year, global goods trade growth has been concentrated in AI-related sectors," said Zhong Sheng, Deputy Director of Huangpu Customs.
Guangdong's core AI industry scale accounts for about a quarter of the national total, becoming a new driving force for foreign trade growth. Taking printed circuit boards, a fundamental AI component, as an example, one out of every 20 PCBs exported nationwide is "Made in Huangpu." In the first half, Dongguan exported integrated circuits worth 65.61 billion yuan, a 34.7% increase.
One out of every two AI glasses globally is "Made in Dongguan." "Our AI glasses are equipped with translation functions for over 150 languages, along with features like meeting minutes, screen display, and teleprompter functions. By combining local hardware manufacturing strengths with domestic large model capabilities, our products will better penetrate the international market," said Zhang Jiawei, CEO of Crete Cloud Technology (Guangdong) Co., Ltd.
According to Liang Danhong, Deputy Director of Shenzhen Customs, Shenzhen's imports and exports of AI-related products grew by over 50% in the first half, exceeding one trillion yuan in total. Exports of advantageous single items like 3D printers and digital cameras increased by over 90% collectively, leading the nation.
Across Guangdong, integrated circuit exports in the first half reached 266.7 billion yuan, up 61.4%. Exports of drones, high-end machine tools, and industrial robots grew by 24.6%, 20.1%, and 16.8% respectively, demonstrating the strong international competitiveness of high-end manufacturing.
New Markets: High-Level Institutional Opening Provides Broader Space
Facing adjustments in the global trade landscape and rising protectionism, China continues to expand institutional opening-up, providing more stable expectations and broader growth space for its own economy and the world economy.
At midnight on May 1 this year, the first batch of imported goods—24 tons of apples from Africa—cleared customs smoothly at a Shenzhen port following China's implementation of a zero-tariff policy for all African countries with diplomatic relations. As the benefits of "zero tariff" are realized, consumers have access to a richer selection of high-quality imported goods.
Data shows that from May to June, China's total imports from Africa amounted to 193.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.5%. In the first half, trade volume between Guangdong and Africa reached a record 178.44 billion yuan, growing by 23.3%.
Compared to opening-up focused on the flow of goods and factors, institutional opening-up primarily involves the opening of rules, regulations, management, and standards, further smoothing the dual circulation of domestic and international markets. Bi Kexin, Deputy Director of the Guangdong Sub-Administration of the General Administration of Customs, stated that Guangdong continues to deepen rules alignment and regulatory coordination, cooperating with Hong Kong and Macao to advance the "one declaration, two reports" system, enabling enterprises to submit information once for adoption by both mainland and Hong Kong/Macao authorities. In the first half, Guangdong's import and export value with Hong Kong reached 829.93 billion yuan, an increase of 47.2%.
New Business Models: Prominent Role of Comprehensive Bonded Zones
Vibrant new business models have also injected growth momentum into Guangdong's foreign trade. In the first half, the scale of cross-border e-commerce in Guangdong continued to rank first nationally, market procurement trade volume increased by over 20% year-on-year, imports and exports for bonded maintenance grew by nearly 20%, and bonded fuel oil bunkering rose by nearly 50%.
As the highest level of open customs special supervision zones with the most preferential policies and comprehensive functions, comprehensive bonded zones play a prominent role in driving foreign trade. In the first half, the total import and export value of the province's 13 comprehensive bonded zones reached 621.92 billion yuan, a 31% year-on-year increase.
Among them, the Shenzhen Qianhai Comprehensive Bonded Zone saw import and export growth of 75.3%, ranking first nationally in scale. It pioneered the implementation of a "direct port connection, intelligent supervision" model, allowing enterprises to directly pick up eligible goods from the port for re-export or transfer into bonded management, effectively reducing logistics costs. Meanwhile, the Huangpu Comprehensive Bonded Zone implemented an intelligent customs clearance model for drones, enabling intelligent supervision of inbound and outbound goods transported by drones, saving enterprises 50% in logistics time and reducing transportation costs by 10%.
In the first half, businesses like bonded financial leasing accelerated development. The Nansha, Baiyun Airport, and Qianhai comprehensive bonded zones imported 19 aircraft under bonded financial leasing, implementing a cross-regional customs entrustment supervision model that effectively lowers logistics costs. The "repair-processing-export" channel for bonded maintenance became more efficient, with bonded maintenance of items like LCD screens and memory modules becoming new growth points for comprehensive bonded zones.
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