Guangzhou companies see increase in foreign trade

Companies under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou Customs in South China's Guangdong province hit a foreign trade volume of more than 145 billion yuan ($20.28 billion) with European Union in the first half of the year.

The figure represented a year-on-year increase of 19.9 percent, according to a statement released by Guangzhou Customs on Thursday.

The sustainable foreign trade growth demonstrates the continuous deepening economic and trade cooperation between Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the member countries of the European Union, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Guangzhou Customs has continued to deepen the construction of smart customs and optimize the functions of the Guangzhou aviation logistics public information platform, further improving the efficiency of port clearance and the facilitation level of cross-border trade, said Wang Jun, a senior officer with the customs logistics monitoring department at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

Early on Wednesday morning, a batch of household appliances valued at around 170,000 yuan ($24,000) were quickly released after being supervised by Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and flown to Amsterdam on flight CZ307, said Wang.

As one of the three aviation hubs in China, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport has opened more than 10 flight routes linking the southern metropolis to major European cities, including Paris, Amsterdam, Rome and Helsinki.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Customs alone has cumulatively supervised exports of goods worth more than 27.5 billion yuan ($3.84 billion) to the EU in the first six months of 2025, a year-on-year increase of around 8 percent.

With the continuous high temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere during summer, the demand for "cool home appliances", including air conditioners, refrigerators and electric fans, has surged in many European countries, significantly increasing export volume of household appliances in Shunde district, Foshan, known as a capital of household appliances, the statement said.

In recent months, Shunde district has been witnessing a daily average of 600 containers shipping household appliances from Beijiao Port to the rest of the world, it said.

Li Huihua, a senior executive with Midea Group, said in response to the high requirements for energy efficiency and intelligence in the EU market, Midea has developed a new windless air conditioner for the European market.

"The product's AI windless technology, which can automatically detect the position of the human body and adjust the wind direction, is deeply favored by overseas customers," said Li.