Data released by the Guangzhou Municipal Commerce Bureau on September 28 shows that from January to August this year, Guangzhou's total imports and exports with ASEAN reached approximately 150 billion yuan (RMB, same below), a year-on-year increase of 6.6%, making ASEAN Guangzhou's largest economic and trade cooperation partner.

Among these figures, Guangzhou's cosmetics exports to ASEAN grew by 42% year-on-year, home appliance exports increased by 41.6% year-on-year, and automobile exports rose by 35.4% year-on-year.

According to the Guangzhou Municipal Commerce Bureau, Guangzhou's trade partners in ASEAN are currently mainly six countries including Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Cambodia. Guangzhou enterprises can obtain economic and trade information and related services through channels such as overseas workstations, overseas Guangdong (Guangzhou) chambers of commerce, overseas industrial parks, and overseas warehouses, accelerating their expansion into the ASEAN market.

At the same time, Guangzhou enterprises are achieving a comprehensive upgrade in ASEAN from "selling products" to "building production capacity" and "exporting standards." Economic and trade exchanges between Guangzhou and ASEAN are entering a new stage of industrial chain integration from simple trade.

Taking the automotive industry as an example, GAC Group has established six overseas factories in ASEAN countries including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Cambodia. From January to August this year, GAC Group's Thailand branch accumulated wholesale vehicle sales of 16,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 97%; terminal vehicle sales reached 15,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 83%.

Beyond co-building production capacity, the export of technological standards represents a key leap from "trade going global" to "industry going global." At the end of July, Guangdong Intercity Railway Operation Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Guangzhou Metro, won the bid for the Malaysia East Coast Rail Link infrastructure maintenance project, with a project value exceeding 900 million yuan and a service period of 10 years. This is the first time a Chinese rail transit enterprise has exported a complete intercity railway operation and maintenance standards system to ASEAN on a large scale.

The establishment of leading enterprises has driven broader market forces to follow suit, with Guangzhou's specialized markets achieving collective expansion overseas. In September this year, the "Guangdong Trade Global × Guangdong Yimin Clothing City — Clothing Trade Matchmaking Summit" was held in Kuala Lumpur, where multiple parties signed strategic cooperation agreements on site. Earlier in June, five major Guangzhou specialized markets including Zhonggang Leather Goods City and Baima Clothing Market appeared as a group in Singapore, with more than 60% of buyers expressing cooperation intentions on the spot.