Shenzhen once again emerged as China’s leading exporter, with exports jumping 12.5% year on year to 2.46 trillion yuan (US$342 billion) in 2023, ranking first for the 31st year in a row among mainland cities, Shenzhen Customs said at a news conference held by the Guangdong Provincial Government Information Office in Guangzhou yesterday.

As a major export-oriented city in China, the city’s foreign trade reached a new record of 3.87 trillion yuan, up by 5.9% year on year, ranking second among mainland cities, Pan Chuxiong, deputy chief of Shenzhen Customs, said at the conference.

Shenzhen contributed 46.6% to Guangdong’s total foreign trade last year, which stood at 8.3 trillion yuan.

According to him, Shenzhen’s foreign trade maintained a growing momentum last year, steadily advancing in scale and optimizing its structure, which demonstrated considerable resilience.

The volume of general trade expanded 14.4% year on year to 2.08 trillion yuan.

Trade with Shenzhen’s top 10 trading partners totaled 3.04 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.4% year on year.

Among them, trade with Belt and Road countries and regions rose by 9.3% year on year to 1.3 trillion yuan, which accounted for 33.6% of the city’s total foreign trade.

Private enterprises contributed 2.54 trillion yuan, or 65.7%, to the city’s total foreign trade, up by 12.3% year on year.

The exports of electromechanical products amounted to 1.78 trillion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 6.7% and accounting for 72.6% of Shenzhen’s total exports.