China's Guangdong Province, which ranks first in foreign trade among provincial-level regions, recorded a decline rate in external trade lower than the national average in the first five months of this year.

According to local customs data released Saturday, Guangdong's foreign trade volume stood at 208.52 billion U.S. dollars between January and May, a decline of 21.8 percent from the same period of last year.

The total included 125.39 billion U.S. dollars in export value, down 18.5 percent, and 83.13 billion dollars in import value, down 26.3 percent.

The province's exports to the major markets, such as Hong Kong, the United States and the European Union, remained lacklustre in the first five months.

Sales to the United States were down 15.2 percent and those to the European Union, down 22.5 percent.

Year-on-year decline rate expanded in May after having narrowed down for three consecutive months, indicating persistent negative effect of the international financial crisis, local customs sources said.

The province's decline rate in foreign trade was 31.1 percent in January, 19.2 percent in February, 18.3 percent in March, 18.1 percent in April and 22.1 percent in May.

(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2009)