Dongguan Maintains Major Foreign Trade Hub Status with Annual Average Imports and Exports Above 1.3 Trillion Yuan During the 14th Five-Year Plan Period

On the afternoon of December 29, the Press Office of the People's Government of Guangdong Province held a special press conference on "Guangdong's Achievements During the 14th Five-Year Plan Period" focusing on Dongguan's achievements. Key officials from Dongguan Municipal People's Government and relevant departments were invited to attend and introduce the overall situation and key achievements of Dongguan's economic and social development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

Scene of the Press Conference

At the press conference, He Juncong, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Commerce, stated that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Dongguan has always placed "stabilizing foreign trade" in a prominent position and launched a set of measures to stabilize existing trade, expand new growth, and optimize the trade structure. Specifically, there are three main aspects of measures:

1. Strengthening "Targeted Support" to Fully Stimulate New Momentum in Foreign Trade

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Dongguan has fully implemented the "Five External Linkages" strategy, taking the lead in Guangdong Province in introducing the "Five External Linkages" initiative and 30 specific measures to stabilize foreign trade. Multiple parties have collaborated to help enterprises boost exports, secure orders, and stabilize production.

2. Exploring "Diversified Markets" to Actively Cultivate New Growth Drivers in Foreign Trade

In response to fluctuations in the international market, Dongguan issued work plans for going global in "five key areas" (mobile phones, textiles, furniture, toys and food), and organized enterprises to participate in nearly 1,000 "Guangdong Trades Globally" events, with a total of over 20,000 enterprise participations. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Dongguan has established seven overseas exhibition and sales centers for high-quality Dongguan products. Its imports and exports to regions such as ASEAN, the Middle East, and the five Central Asian countries increased by 38.7% compared with the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, and general trade grew by 24.6%.

In collaboration with Hong Kong, it has built the world's first cross-customs territory air-sea intermodal transportation project – the Hong Kong International Airport Dongguan Air Port Center, which was selected as a typical case for promoting the alignment of rules and mechanisms in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area by Guangdong Province. From January to November 2025, the import and export cargo volume and value of the Air Port Center increased by 77.6% and 89.4% respectively.

3. Activating "Emerging Business Models" to Strive to Build New Engines for Growth

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, relying on comprehensive bonded zones and bonded logistics centers (Type B), Dongguan has vigorously developed bonded logistics, whose current scale accounts for about 27.9% of the city's total imports and exports, an increase of 8.2 percentage points compared with the same period in 2020. Cross-border e-commerce pioneered the national embedded supervision reform, with an average annual growth rate of 12% in total export value. It has facilitated the selection of the Songshan Lake consumer electronics and Humen women's apparel industrial belts into the second batch of provincial-level "cross-border e-commerce + industrial belt" pilot programs.

The export scale of market procurement trade has ranked first among provincial pilots for three consecutive years. Dongguan has actively promoted the pilot program for bonded maintenance with "both ends abroad," with 2 out of the 4 pilot enterprises approved in Guangdong Province located in Dongguan.

Through these measures, Dongguan has delivered a substantial "report card" on foreign trade.　

In terms of total volume, Dongguan has maintained its status as a "major foreign trade city". During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Dongguan's total import and export volume has averaged over 1.3 trillion yuan annually. From January to November 2025, the city's imports and exports reached 1.43619 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.3%, ranking fifth in the country and second in the province in scale. The growth rate is higher than the national and provincial averages, leading major foreign trade cities both within and outside the province. It is expected that the total import and export volume for the whole year will hit a record high.

Over the past five years, Dongguan's foreign trade has demonstrated strong resilience and vitality amid storms. In the future, we will continue to consolidate these hard-won achievements and steadily promote the high-quality development of Dongguan's foreign trade.