On January 19, 2026, the Guangdong Branch of the General Administration of Customs released heavyweight data: the total import and export value of goods trade in Guangdong will reach 9.49 trillion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%, setting a new historical annual high. Among them, exports reached 6.03 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.5%, while imports reached 3.46 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.8%. The import growth rate significantly outperformed the overall trend, showing a good trend of "coordinated growth of imports and exports, stable quantity and improved quality". As the cornerstone of China's foreign trade, Guangdong's foreign trade accounts for one-fifth of the country's total value, ranking first among all provinces and cities for 40 consecutive years. Its contribution rate to the growth of China's foreign trade is as high as 24.1%, and it has delivered an impressive answer in a complex external environment.

Stability at the forefront: Diversified markets build a solid foundation for growth

Against the backdrop of global demand fluctuations, Guangdong enterprises are making a two-way effort to consolidate tradition and explore emerging markets, stabilizing the foundation of foreign trade. OPPEIN Home Group is a typical representative: promoting the upgrade from product export to localized operation in the North American market, improving the localized store system in Southeast Asia, laying out brand showrooms in the Middle East to shape a high-end image, and steadily increasing overseas orders through a global dealer network. In 2026, we will strengthen the flexible production capacity of intelligent manufacturing, accelerate the establishment of regional operation centers and warehousing bases in emerging markets, and continue to release growth momentum, "said Niu Yaojie, Deputy General Manager of OPPEIN Overseas Marketing.

This exploration is not an isolated case. In 2025, Guangdong's imports and exports to emerging markets such as the five Central Asian countries, Africa, and the Middle East will surge by 23.6%, 10.7%, and 8.5% respectively, all significantly higher than the overall growth rate; The scale of imports and exports to countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" reached 3.66 trillion yuan, up 5% year on year. The "the Belt and Road" has become an important support for stabilizing foreign trade. The coordinated development of traditional and emerging markets has continuously enhanced Guangdong's ability to resist risks in foreign trade.

Excellent character is essential: activating new quality productivity and upgrading structure

The transformation of export structure towards high-end, intelligent, and green is the core password for Guangdong's foreign trade to improve quality. By 2025, the export of high-tech products such as industrial robots, drones, 3D printers, and agricultural machinery in Guangdong will achieve rapid growth, and the transformation of new quality productivity into export competitiveness will accelerate.

Dongguan - This "world factory" is radiating new vitality as the "city of robots". At present, Dongguan has over 7000 robot related enterprises. By 2025, the city will export industrial robots worth 460 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32%. At Dongguan Songling Technology Co., Ltd., the mobile platform equipped with a robotic arm flexibly completes actions such as grasping and pose adjustment, and the scene based application of embodied intelligent products has won market favor. The order volume is expected to increase by 52% in 2025, and it is expected to maintain a stable growth rate of 30% -40% in 2026, "said Lin Xiaopeng, the company's market leader, with full confidence. From 'Made in Guangdong' to 'Intelligent Made in Guangdong', technological innovation is continuously propelling Guangdong manufacturing up the global value chain.

New words break the deadlock: new business formats open up new growth tracks

The vigorous development of new formats such as bonded logistics and cross-border e-commerce has injected strong new momentum into Guangdong's foreign trade. In 2025, Guangdong's bonded logistics import and export will reach 1.93 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.1%, accounting for over 20% of the total import and export value for the first time, becoming a "new engine" for foreign trade growth; Cross border e-commerce overseas warehouse exports have experienced explosive growth, with a year-on-year increase of up to 9.8 times, making the efficiency of "buying globally, selling globally, and connecting globally" higher and the cost lower.

As an "air bridge" connecting the world, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport has an average daily import and export of over 4000 tons of goods, and millions of cross-border e-commerce packages fly from here to the world every day. Relying on the 'dual front-end' cargo terminal model, goods can be cleared and directly delivered to the Baiyun Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone in one stop, reducing waiting time by more than 50%, "said Li Weican, Business Manager of Guangdong Jinyangcheng Supply Chain Technology Co., Ltd. The efficient logistics channel has enabled the continuous expansion of cross-border e-commerce business, and" we will continue to leverage this advantage to expand our overseas market share in 2026.

From ports to airports, from traditional manufacturing to intelligent production, from physical stores to cross-border e-commerce, Guangdong's foreign trade is steadily advancing on the path of high-quality development with a "stable" confidence, "excellent" quality, and "new" vitality, continuously contributing "Guangdong strength" to the growth of national foreign trade.Editor/Bian Wenjun