The economically booming Guangdong Province in south China realized 277.1 billion U.S. dollars in foreign trade in the first seven months of this year, ranking the country's first place.

The amount represented a year-on-year growth of 24.1 percent, a bit higher than that for the nation's total foreign trade, local customs sources said.

Between January and July, Guangdong sold abroad 156.3 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods, up 27.5 percent; and imported 120.7 billion U.S. dollars worth, up 20 percent.

The trade surplus amounted to 35.62 billion U.S. dollars, or 46.8 percent, of China's total.

Over the past seven months, processing trade made up 181.99 billion U.S. dollars, or 65.7 percent, of Guangdong's total external trade, the customs sources said.

The private sector recorded a fast foreign-trade growth. Between January and July, the sector's import and export volume went up 43.5 percent over the year-earlier level to 38.36 billion U.S. dollars.

Source: Xinhua