Hunan's foreign trade amounted to 391.24 billion CNY in the first eight months of this year, an increase of 11.3% over the same period last year. Exports grew 4.4% to 222.54 billion CNY while imports rose 21.8% to 168.7 billion CNY, the Changsha Customs Authority announced on September 10, 2026.

Hunan's trade with Latin America, Russia, and the United States maintained relatively fast growth. In the first eight months, the province's trade with the United States reached 19.52 billion CNY, up 7.8%; trade with ASEAN, Latin America, China's Hong Kong, and the EU increased 11%, 26.8%, 4.2%, and 17.6%, respectively. These four major markets together accounted for more than half of the provincial total import and export value. In August, Hunan's trade with Latin America grew 34.4% to 7.37 billion CNY, contributing 4.3 percentage points to overall growth; exports to Africa were 3.05 billion CNY, up 63.7%.

Automobiles and the "new three" products—electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic cells—contributed the main export increments. During the January-August period, Hunan's exports of mechanical and electrical products increased 9.6% to 133.99 billion CNY, with their share of the province's total exports rising to 60%. Exports of the "new three" products grew 30.3% to 16.54 billion CNY while those of high-tech products rose 24.9% to 31.74 billion CNY. Notably, in the first eight months, Hunan exported 163.03 billion CNY of locally sourced goods, up 13% and accounting for 70% of the total exports. This means that the vast majority of Hunan's exports were supplied by local production, and the foreign trade growth effectively drove the development of local industries.

Integrated circuits and computers and their components drove import growth. In the first eight months, Hunan's imports of mechanical and electrical products climbed 40.3% to 46.92 billion CNY, accounting for 27.8% of the province's total imports during the same period. Imports of integrated circuits and computers and their components surged 51.8% and 369.1%, respectively.

Yiyang and Xiangtan led in growth rates, while Changsha served as the anchor for the province's total volume, making the province's foreign trade regional structure more balanced. During the January-August period, Yiyang and Xiangtan's foreign trade grew 66.1% and 51.5% to 8.09 billion CNY and 23.4 billion CNY, respectively, ranking first and second in the province. During the same period, Changsha's imports and exports increased 11.6% to 208.05 billion CNY, accounting for more than half of the province's total.

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

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: Voice of Hunan