Foreign trade in China's industrial powerhouse Guangdong Province topped US$500 billion last year, up US$100 billion over the previous year, state press said yesterday.
Exports of high and new technologies led the boom, making up 34.5 percent of the province's total exports during the first 11 months of last year, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the provincial trade bureau.
Private export-oriented bus-inesses also helped boost foreign trade as they increased their exports by 58 percent during the first 11 months of last year over the previous year, exporting US$42 billion worth of goods, it said.
The Ministry of Commerce forecasts that the nation's total foreign trade last year would top US$1.75 trillion, up about 24 percent over 2005.
In the first 10 months of last year, Guangdong, known as the shop floor of China's booming export-driven economy, exported US$241 billion worth of goods, up 28 percent over the same period in 2005.
The province imported US$183 billion of products during the first 10 months of last year, up 19.8 percent over the same period in 2005, ministry statistics showed.
Foreign enterprises brought some US$14 billion in contracted investment into Guangdong during the first 11 months of last year, Xinhua reported.
Guangdong's GDP is expected to reach 2.58 trillion yuan (US$330.7 billion) this year.
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