The nine cities of Guangdong Province in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) saw their foreign trade surpass 9 trillion yuan (about 1.29 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, hitting a record high.
The nine GBA mainland cities recorded imports and exports totaling 9.15 trillion yuan (about 1.31 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 4.7 percent, according to statistics from the Guangdong branch of the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC)
This value accounted for 20.1 percent of the national total and contributed over one-fourth of the country's total foreign trade growth.
Last year, the nine cities' exports reached 5.83 trillion yuan (about 836 billion U.S. dollars), growing by 2.7 percent, while imports hit 3.32 trillion yuan (about 476 billion U.S. dollars), up by 8.5 percent.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), both imports and exports in the nine cities increased, with an average annual growth rate of 6.2 percent.
The number of enterprises with import and export records in the nine cities exceeded 150,000, a record high.
Among them, private enterprises numbered 139,700, with a total import and export value of 5.87 trillion yuan (about 842 billion U.S. dollars), both setting historical records, up by 20.3 percent and 5.3 percent respectively.
Mechanical and electrical products accounted for nearly 70 percent of the total export value of the nine cities last year, reaching 4.07 trillion yuan (about 584 billion U.S. dollars), up 7.6 percent.
Among them, the traditional electronics manufacturing sector maintained a solid advantage.
Exports of electronic components, electrical equipment, computers and their parts grew steadily by 20.1 percent, 17 percent, and 9.7 percent, respectively.
Emerging industries developed rapidly, with exports of intelligent and green products such as the "new trio" (electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, photovoltaic products), 3D printers, and drones increasing by over 30 percent, specifically by 31.2 percent, 37.1 percent, and 40.8 percent, respectively.
In 2025, mechanical and electrical products accounted for 72.2 percent of the total import value across the nine cities, rising 12.2 percent to 2.39 trillion yuan (about 343 billion U.S. dollars).
Notably, imports of components and equipment for industrial production -- such as integrated circuits, computers and their parts, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment -- grew relatively fast, by 15.4 percent, 19.4 percent, and 33.1 percent, respectively.
During the same period, imports of consumer goods related to people's livelihood, including dairy products, aquatic products, grain, and edible vegetable oil, saw strong increase, rising by 20.5 percent, 21.5 percent, 22.5 percent, and 54.4 percent, respectively.
The GBA consists of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao SAR), as well as nine cities in Guangdong Province, namely Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing.
Greater Bay Area's nine Chinese mainland cities set foreign trade record in 2025
British international relations analyst Keith Bennett said the Tokyo Trial was a just reckoning for the war crimes of Japanese militarism, calling for a correct understanding of history and safeguarding the gains of the World Anti-Fascist War to prevent the repetition of such tragedies.
From May 3, 1946 to Nov. 12, 1948, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East was held in Tokyo by 11 countries, including the United States, China, the UK and the Soviet Union, to try Japan's Class-A war criminals after World War II. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the start of the Tokyo Trial.
Bennett believes the Tokyo Trial played a pivotal role in punishing Japan, the main Asian ally of Nazi Germany, for its aggression and atrocities committed during the World War II.
"I think it's entirely reasonable that the victors of the Anti-Fascist War, whether in Europe or in Asia, should bring the perpetrators of the dreadful crimes that were committed to justice," Bennett said.
Bennett said that the multinational participation in the Tokyo Trial made it an important manifestation of the international community's shared commitment to justice.
"The involvement of different powers in the Tokyo trials [mean] lifted it above a bilateral issue between this or that country and Japan, but about international society and humanity as a whole. The crimes that Japan committed, they may have been committed in China or in Korea or in the Philippines and so on, but they were crimes against humanity," he said.
Bennett said it is of great significance to have a proper understanding of the history of the World War II and prevent this tragedy from repeating itself. "Whether we're talking about the Tokyo trials in Asia or the Nuremberg trials in Europe, the point was to draw a line under some of the most brutal aggression and crimes against humanity that we've seen in all of history, really, and to ensure that these things should never happen again," he said.
Yet, due to the leniency and protection of the U.S. occupation authorities, accountability for Japan's war crimes was never as thorough as the Nuremberg Trials of the Nazi leaders. Fourteen Class-A war criminals were even enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine, their ghosts lingering to this day.
Until this day, some right-wing Japanese politicians still refuse to renounce Japan's militaristic past, and even question or deny the outcomes of the war.
They continue to pay tribute to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, revise high school history textbooks to downplay Japan's wartime atrocities, and deny the forced recruitment of "comfort women" by the Japanese military during WWII.
During the deadliest military conflict in human history 80 years ago, more than 80 countries and regions, involving roughly 2 billion people, were drawn into the war. More than 100 million worldwide were killed or wounded, and global economic losses exceeded 4 trillion U.S. dollars.
To resist fascist aggression, more than 50 countries, including China and the Soviet Union, formed a united front. As the main theater in the East during the World Anti-Fascist War, China paid a heavy price -- over 35 million casualties in its fight against the majority of Japanese militarist troops.
Preserving the truth of history is the most meaningful tribute to the soldiers and civilians who perished during WWII. It is also a foundation for reconciliation between former belligerent nations.
Tokyo Trial represents just reckoning for Japanese aggression crimes: British expert
