City retains top spot in exports for 31st year in 2023

The busy Yantian Port in eastern Shenzhen in this undated file photo. Shenzhen Special Zone Daily

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.

Among them, exports of the “new three,” namely lithium-ion batteries, solar cells, and new energy vehicles, amounted to 88.76 billion yuan, posting a year-on-year increase of 33.9%.

Domestic production and consumer demand continued to recover, driving an increase in the import of related products. In 2023, imports of consumer goods, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and bulk commodities in Shenzhen reached 134.91 billion yuan, 30.16 billion yuan, and 23.89 billion yuan, up 3.1%, 316.2%, and 56.8%, respectively.

“The ‘new three’ items are typical high-tech products. Shenzhen has good foundation for the industries, whose fast growth will drive the development of the city’s foreign trade,” Chen Shou, head of Shenzhen Battery Association, said yesterday.

Lin Wensheng, deputy chief with Shenzhen Chamber of Commerce for Imports and Exports, thought the growth of new business modes like e-commerce trade and new energy industry invigorated city’s foreign trade, showing the resilience of the city’s imports and exports. (Shenzhen Daily)