Mainland cities in Greater Bay Area see foreign trade volume up 11 pct in first 10 months

The foreign trade volume of the nine mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) reached 7.22 trillion yuan (approximately 1.00 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first ten months of this year, marking an 11 percent increase year-on-year, according to customs authorities in south China's Guangdong Province.

Covering a total area of 56,000 square kilometers, the GBA consists of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region, as well as nine cities in Guangdong Province -- Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing. It is one of the most economically open and vibrant areas in China.

Growing 5.8 percent faster than the national foreign trade, the trade volume of the nine mainland cities accounted for 20 percent of China's total import and export volume during the same period.

Exports of industrial robots, electric vehicles, ships, and marine engineering equipment from the nine mainland cities increased by 53.3 percent, 49.2 percent, and 38.3 percent, respectively, in the first ten months of this year.

In 2023, the trade volume of the nine mainland cities reached 7.95 trillion yuan (approximately 1.11 trillion U.S. dollars), marking an increase of 0.4 percent and accounting for 19 percent of the total import and export value of the country.

Mainland cities in Greater Bay Area see foreign trade volume up 11 pct in first 10 months

China's foreign trade has shown strong performance in 2024, with projections showing the country's trade surplus approaching one trillion U.S. dollars, a Chinese economist said.

China's total goods imports and exports maintained steady growth in the first 11 months of 2024, with the trade value reaching 39.79 trillion yuan (about 5.6 trillion U.S. dollars), up 4.9 percent from the same period last year, official data showed.

In each of the first three quarters of the year, China's total import and export volume exceeded 10 trillion yuan (about 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars), the first time in history.

From January to November, mechanical and electrical products made up nearly 60 percent of China's exports, with automated data processing equipment, integrated circuits, and automobiles all seeing double-digit growth.

Liu Qing, Executive Dean of the National Academy of Development and Strategic Research at Renmin University of China, said that China's foreign trade has remained highly competitive this year, despite the global political and economic instability.

"We forecast that China's trade surplus for 2024 will surpass 950 billion U.S. dollars, which is a remarkable achievement. Despite the current global political and economic turmoil, our international competitiveness remains strong, which reflects the strength of our industrial foundation and competitiveness," said Liu.

China's 2024 trade surplus approaching 1 trillion USD: expert