Hunan's imports and exports reached 437.17 billion CNY in first ten months of this year, announced the Changsha Customs Authority on November 10, 2025. The provincial trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continued to grow, while the trade volume with African nations topped the central and western parts of China.

During the January-October period, Hunan saw 8,100 enterprises with actual import and export performance, marking a year-on-year increase of 7.2%. Since 2022, the number of enterprises with actual foreign trade performance in the province has remained above 8,000 for four consecutive years. By enterprise type, manufacturing enterprises recorded imports and exports totaling 216.42 billion CNY, accounting for 49.6% of the provincial total. Among these, exports constituted 53% of Hunan's total export value, demonstrating strong resilience.

In the first ten months, Hunan's trade with BRI countries increased 0.4% to 256.65 billion CNY, accounting for 58.7% of the provincial total and seven percentage points higher than the national average. The province's trade with ASEAN countries and Africa amounted to 80.47 billion CNY and 48.85 billion CNY respectively, growing 4% and 17%. Driven by imports of bulk commodities such as soybeans and iron ore, Hunan's trade volume with Brazil has risen steadily since June this year. The province's trade with Brazil rose 12.3% to 23.6 billion CNY in the first ten months. Brazil remains Hunan's second-largest trading partner, trailing only Hong Kong SAR.

Mechanical and electrical products accounted for nearly 60% of the total exports. In the first ten months, Hunan exported mechanical and electrical products worth 152.22 billion CNY, up 1.7% and representing 57.9% of the provincial total export value. Automobiles (including chassis) and the "new three"—new energy vehicles (NEVs), lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products recorded exports of 26.13 billion CNY and 15.41 billion CNY respectively, rising 17.3% and 78.3%. These sectors maintained robust growth momentum for six consecutive months and 13 consecutive months respectively, with October alone seeing export growths of 14.5% and 87.5% respectively.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn. 

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn