According to data from the Zhongshan Bureau of Commerce, Zhongshan's total imports and exports in the first 7 months of 2019 stood at 139.62 billion yuan, up 6.9% year-on-year. The growth ranked 8th in Guangdong and 1st in the Pearl River Delta.

The export value was 112.67 billion yuan, an increase of 12.6% over the previous year, while the import value was 27.06 billion yuan, a decline of 11.6%.

Private enterprises were doing well, and their imports and exports increased by 22.8% year-on-year, accounting for 37.4% of Zhongshan's total import and export value.

Taking TCL Air Conditioner (Zhongshan) Co Ltd as an example. The company expands the market mainly by attending the Canton Fair and overseas professional refrigeration exhibitions as well as conducting overseas investigation activities, and etc. From January to July, TCL Air Conditioner (Zhongshan) Co Ltd exported 2.86 million sets of air conditioners with a total value of $673 million, up to 10% year-on-year. Its total value of exports to the Belt and Road markets was about $470 million, an increase of 12%, accounting for 70% of the company's total export value.

As a key prefecture-level city of foreign trade and economic cooperation in Guangdong, Zhongshan has trade relations with 209 countries and regions. From January to July, its imports and exports to the EU, ASEAN and Hong Kong increased by 16.9%, 12.4% and 4.9% respectively; its trade volume with the Belt and Road countries increased by 10.9% year-on-year; and its imports and exports to such emerging markets as Latin America, Africa and the Middle East rose by 13.4%, 59.1% and 16.5% respectively.

In the first 7 months, Zhongshan's imports and exports in the form of general trade rose 7.2% to 68.61 billion yuan, accounting for 49.1% of its total import and export value.

During the same period, the export of mechanical and electrical products increased by 11.5%, accounting for 72.7% of the total; the export of traditional labor-intensive products (furniture, toys, bags, shoes, plastic products, textiles, clothing, etc) increased by 15.6%; the export of lamps, lighting fixtures and parts increased by 44%.