Shenzhen's foreign trade got off a robust start in the first half of this year (H1), with total imports and exports expanding 33% year-on-year to 2.88 trillion yuan (US$396 billion), reaching a historic high for the period, according to the latest statistics from Shenzhen Customs.

　　During the first six months, the city's exports rose 15.5% to 1.51 trillion yuan, while imports surged by 59.8% to 1.37 trillion yuan. For the month of June alone, Shenzhen's foreign trade volume hit 562.18 billion yuan, representing a 42.1% year-on-year growth, with exports increasing by 13.8% to 285.28 billion yuan and imports skyrocketing by 90.8% to 276.9 billion yuan.

　　The city's foreign trade performance in H1 was characterized by several key trends. 

　　General trade accounted for over half of the total volume, reaching 1.48 trillion yuan with a growth of 24.4%, which represented 51.4% of the city's overall trade. Meanwhile, bonded logistics grew by 50.2% to 874.09 billion yuan, accounting for 30.4% of the total, while processing trade increased by 35.3% to 515.98 billion yuan, taking up 17.9%.

　　Private enterprises remained the primary engine of the city's foreign trade growth, contributing over 70% of the total volume. In the first half of the year, trade by private businesses rose by 40.4% to 2.12 trillion yuan, accounting for 73.6% of Shenzhen's total trade and driving the city's overall foreign trade growth upward by 28.2 percentage points. Foreign-invested enterprises also saw steady growth, with their trade volume rising 27.1% to 715.32 billion yuan, taking up 24.8% of the total.

　　Shenzhen's trade with all of its top 10 trading partners saw positive growth, collectively amounting to 2.25 trillion yuan, up 35.1% and accounting for 78.1% of the city's total trade. Hong Kong, ASEAN, and Taiwan remained Shenzhen's top three trading partners. Trade with Hong Kong grew by 67% to 563.61 billion yuan, trade with ASEAN rose by 19% to 426.29 billion yuan, and trade with Taiwan increased by 10.4% to 278.1 billion yuan.

　　Additionally, trade with other key regions and countries continued to rise, including the European Union (256.26 billion yuan, up 17.4%), the United States (231.32 billion yuan, up 12.4%), Japan (173.06 billion yuan, up 85.8%), South Korea (164.76 billion yuan, up 35.9%), Switzerland (57.39 billion yuan, up 521%), India (50.13 billion yuan, up 20.1%), and Australia (47.76 billion yuan, up 77.9%).

　　On the export front, both traditional electronic information sectors and emerging industries recorded strong growth. Exports of mechanical and electrical products climbed 18.5% to 1.16 trillion yuan, accounting for 77%t of Shenzhen's total exports. Notably, exports of electronic components grew by 45.8% to 237.96 billion yuan, while computer and parts exports rose 19.4% to 182.42 billion yuan. The "new three" green items— electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products — saw their combined exports increase by 28.9% to 66.78 billion yuan.

　　Regarding imports, demand for electronic components grew rapidly. During the first half of the year, Shenzhen imported mechanical and electrical products worth 1.05 trillion yuan, up 48% and accounting for 76.5% of the city's total imports. Specifically, imports of electronic components grew by 48.8% to 627.82 billion yuan, computer parts and accessories surged by 367.4% to 160.78 billion yuan, and imports of storage units rose by 99.5% to 54.71 billion yuan.