Skyscrapers border the lush green landscaping in Shenzhen's central business district. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Guangdong province, China's biggest foreign trader, recorded an import/export volume of more than 7 trillion yuan ($1.08 trillion) for 2020 after the province set a record for exports, according to the Guangdong Customs on Wednesday.

Guangdong's foreign trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United States and the European Union — as well as cross-Straits trade with Taiwan — all saw year-on-year growth in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic and the tensions in China-US relations, the customs office said.

Guangdong, a major production base for the world, reached a foreign trade volume of 7.08 trillion yuan in 2020, representing more than 22 percent of the country's total despite a slight year-on-year drop of 0.9 percent, The province sold 4.35 trillion yuan worth of products abroad, marking year-on-year growth of 0.2 percent and a record high, while its imports came to 2.73 trillion yuan, a year-on-year drop of 2.6 percent.

Guangdong had a trade surplus of 1.62 trillion yuan in 2020.

ASEAN has replaced Hong Kong as the largest trading partner of Guangdong, which is home to myriad foreign-funded companies and joint ventures.

Guangdong achieved trade volume of 1.09 trillion yuan with ASEAN last year, up 6.5 percent year-on-year, while the province reached a total trade volume of 1 trillion yuan with Hong Kong, a year-on-year drop of 8.8 percent.

Guangdong's foreign trade with the United States and the EU saw year-on-year growth of 4 percent and 1 percent, respectively. Trade with Taiwan grew by 7.9 percent the previous year.