South China's Shenzhen tops Chinese cities in foreign trade for 2025

SHENZHEN - Shenzhen, a major city in South China's Guangdong province, recorded a 1.4 percent year-on-year rise in foreign trade to 4.55 trillion yuan ($649.8 billion) in 2025, securing the top rank among all Chinese mainland cities, Shenzhen Customs and the city's department of commerce said on Thursday.

Shenzhen's exports hit 2.74 trillion yuan in 2025, while its imports climbed 8 percent year-on-year to 1.81 trillion yuan over the same period.

Shenzhen was home to 62,300 enterprises with actual import and export operations in 2025, marking a 16 percent year-on-year increase. This figure included more than 8,600 new market entrants, reflecting steady expansion in the scale of its trade entities.

Private enterprises powered Shenzhen's trade growth, contributing nearly 70 percent of the city's total foreign trade value.

In 2025, Shenzhen's combined import and export value regarding high-tech products reached 2.6 trillion yuan, up 10.6 percent compared with 2024, accounting for 57.1 percent of the city's total.

Shenzhen's trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative stood at 1.57 trillion yuan last year, making up 34.5 percent of Shenzhen's total foreign trade during this period.