An aerial drone photo taken on Nov. 29, 2024 shows a view of Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

Foreign trade in south China's Guangdong Province reached a record high in the first quarter of this year, according to data released by the Guangdong branch of the General Administration of Customs on Thursday.

The province's total import and export value during the period was 2.14 trillion yuan (about 296.9 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 4.2 percent compared to the same period last year. This growth rate outpaced the national average by 2.9 percentage points.

China's leading foreign trade player, the province saw its exports amount to 1.34 trillion yuan during the period, up 1.4 percent year on year, and its imports came in at 798.15 billion yuan, an increase of 9.3 percent.

Since the beginning of 2025, Guangdong's import and export growth has been gradually picking up month by month. In the first quarter, all three of the province's key figures -- total import and export value, exports, and imports -- reached historic highs.

Private enterprises, a key driver of foreign trade in Guangdong, have shown increasing vitality. In the first quarter, the province's private enterprises saw their total import and export value hit 1.36 trillion yuan, up 4.8 percent year on year and accounting for 63.4 percent of Guangdong's total foreign trade. Meanwhile, foreign-invested enterprises in Guangdong performed well, reporting a 5.3 percent increase in their total import and export value, which came in at 677.03 billion yuan.

Guangdong also saw positive growth in trade with its top five trading partners. ASEAN continued to be Guangdong's largest trading partner, with a trade volume of 349.43 billion yuan -- a growth of 6.9 percent.

In the first quarter, exports of electromechanical products climbed 6.6 percent to 904.27 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 70 percent of Guangdong's total exports. Notably, exports of electric vehicles, motorcycles and ships saw particularly strong growth.

Guangdong's imports of high-end manufacturing goods and consumer goods saw a balanced increase. Imports of electromechanical products surged 24.2 percent to 554.83 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the province's total imports. Imports of certain consumer goods, including beauty products, personal care products, dairy and seafood, also grew in the first three months.

The province's foreign trade maintained steady growth in the first quarter, marking a positive start to the year, according to the Guangdong branch of the General Administration of Customs. While external challenges continue to increase amid an unstable and uncertain global environment, Guangdong's foreign trade foundations remain strong, with numerous advantages, as well as resilience and potential. The long-term positive outlook for the province's foreign trade remains unchanged, it said.