The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Hong Kong, and the European Union became the top three trade partners of Guangdong in the year's first five months, with their growth rate faster than the province's overall export and import development.

According to statistics released by Guangdong Customs on Thursday, Guangdong's foreign trade with ASEAN, Hong Kong, and the EU reached 622.63 billion yuan ($86.7 billion), 470.77 billion yuan, and 441.53 billion yuan from Jan to May, up year-on-year 6.2 percent, 7.8 percent, and 7.1 percent, respectively.

The United States and Chinese Taiwan were the province's 4th and 5th largest trade partners in the five months ending May, according to a statement released by Guangdong Customs.

The province's trade with the US hit 378.48 billion yuan, down 9.6 percent, and trade with Taiwan hit 353.13 billion yuan, up 30.4 percent, said the statement.

Guangdong's foreign trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative hit 1.46 trillion yuan between January and May, up year-on-year 4.1 percent.

The global production hub reached a trade volume of 3.75 trillion yuan in the first five months, up year-on-year 4 percent, 1.5 percentage points faster than the country's average, said the statement.

Guangdong exported 2.37 trillion yuan worth of products while purchasing goods valued at 1.38 trillion yuan from the rest of the world during the period.

The steady trade growth demonstrated that Guangdong, which usually relies heavily on foreign trade to achieve sustainable economic development, has a strong demand for major imported products, insiders said.

In the first five months, Guangdong imported mechanical and electrical products worth 965.65 billion yuan, an increase of 20.7 percent year-on-year and accounting for 69.9 percent of Guangdong's total import value.

Among them, imports of integrated circuits, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and computers and their components amounted to 497.28 billion yuan, 36.44 billion yuan, and 170.4 billion yuan, up 14.1 percent, 52.7 percent, and 108.5 percent, respectively.

During the same period, Guangdong's import of consumer goods such as grain, aquatic products, dairy products, beauty and cosmetics, and toiletries reached 14.53 billion yuan, 8.8 billion yuan, 7.12 billion yuan, and 4.53 billion yuan, year-on-year increases of 11.9 percent, 27.8 percent, 23.1 percent, and 12.3 percent, respectively, said the statement.