Photo shows a view of Nansha Port in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Guangdong province's foreign trade set a record last year, despite the challenging global situation, edging up 0.5 percent year-on-year to 8.31 trillion yuan ($1.23 trillion).

It continued to hold the top spot for foreign trade among China's provinces, with 19.8 percent of the national total, according to Guangdong customs authorities.

Exports increased by 5.5 percent to 5.33 trillion yuan, while imports decreased by 7.4 percent to 2.98 trillion yuan.

Trade with some major traditional partners, including Taiwan, went up. Others included the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United States and the European Union. Trade with emerging markets, including participants in the Belt and Road Initiative, Latin America and other BRICS countries, also rose significantly.

Exports of new energy products including electric cars, solar cells and lithium-ion batteries grew strongly. And imports of agricultural products, crude oil and semiconductor manufacturing equipment increased substantially. Imports of integrated circuits decreased.