An aerial photo shows a container terminal in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province. [Photo/IC]

South China's Guangdong province purchased 1.72 trillion yuan ($242.25 billion) worth of mechanical and electrical products from APEC economies last year, marking a 13.7 percent year-on-year increase.

The figure represented 73.2 percent of the province's total imports from APEC economies, said a statement released by Guangdong Customs on Jan 30.

Among them, imports of integrated circuits surged to 987.35 billion yuan, a 19.6 percent year-on-year increase, while imports of computers and their parts reached 261.88 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 17.9 percent, the statement said.

The steady growth of imports from APEC economies has helped Guangdong, China's biggest foreign trader, reach a total trade volume of more than 6.16 trillion yuan in 2025, up 3.3 percent year-on-year, the statement said.

Guangdong's trade with APEC economies remained steady and upbeat in the previous year, it said.

The province's exports to APEC economies hit 3.82 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.1 percent, while its imports from those economies grew at an even faster rate of 8.7 percent year-on-year, totaling 2.34 trillion yuan.

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the United States and Chinese Taiwan island were Guangdong's top three trade partners among APEC economies in 2025.

Guangdong's trade volume with the three APEC economies reached 1.28 trillion yuan, 945.32 billion yuan and 833.08 billion respectively last year, accounting for nearly 50 percent of the province's total trade volume with APEC economies, it said.

Private enterprises recorded 3.77 trillion yuan in trade volume with APEC economies last year, up 4.1 percent and accounting for 61.2 percent of the province's total trade volume with those economies, according to the statement.

Foreign companies and joint ventures achieved 2.17 trillion yuan trade volume with APEC economies, accounting for a 6.2 percent rise year-on-year and representing 35.2 percent, a 0.8 percentage points increase from 2024.