By Zafar Hussain

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (China Economic Net) – Pakistan’s exports to five key Southern Chinese provinces and regions Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi, Hunan and Hainan rose to $549.15 million in the first half of 2026, up 31.9 percent from $416.19 million in the same period of 2025, according to trade data compiled from China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC).

The combined $132.96 million increase across these five markets was led by a dramatic surge in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, where copper and mineral exports drove a 172.4 percent jump, while Hainan Province more than doubled its imports from Pakistan on the back of newly established ore shipments.

Guangxi leads with a near-tripling of trade

Exports to Guangxi rose to $58.11 million in H1 2026, up from $21.33 million a year earlier a 172.4 percent increase and the fastest growth rate among the five provinces. The gain was driven almost entirely by unrefined copper and copper anodes for electrolytic refining, which alone accounted for over $35 million of the increase, alongside steady growth in zinc ore and unwrought lead shipments. Trade officials have linked Guangxi’s rise to expanding land-route connectivity between Gwadar and Xinjiang under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Hainan more than doubles on new mineral corridors

Hainan Province recorded the second-fastest growth, with imports climbing 91.4 percent to $17.03 million from $8.90 million. Nearly all of this growth came from mineral ores that had little or no presence in the same period last year zinc ores and concentrates ($7.4 million), lead ores and concentrates ($3.0 million), and smaller but newly established shipments of antimony and iron ore concentrates, pointing to Hainan emerging as a fresh destination for Pakistani mineral exports rather than an expansion of existing trade lines.

Fujian and Guangdong remain the largest markets

Fujian Province stayed the largest of the five destinations by value, taking in $230.39 million in H1 2026 versus $184.56 million a year earlier, a 24.8 percent rise. Cotton yarn was the dominant driver, with the two main uncombed cotton yarn categories together adding nearly $38 million in growth, supplemented by rising chromium ore and frozen sardine shipments.

Guangdong Province followed closely at $227.73 million, up 20.8 percent from $188.57 million. Copper anodes for electrolytic refining remained Guangdong’s single largest import from Pakistan, though the standout growth came from rice: broken rice shipments (both major grade categories) added nearly $25 million combined, alongside a sharp rise in frozen cuttlefish and squid exports.

Hunan posts steady, broad-based growth

Hunan Province saw the most modest increase in percentage terms, rising 23.8 percent to $15.88 million from $12.83 million. Growth here was more diversified, spread across sesame seeds, chromium ore, copper ore, milled rice and cotton yarn, with no single commodity dominating the increase, consistent with Hunan’s profile as a smaller, inland-linked market absorbing a broader basket of Pakistani goods.

What’s driving the shift

Muhammad Imran, Trade and Investment Counsellor at the Pakistan’s Mission in Guangzhou, said that the demand for minerals products has significantly improved with the increasing trend in processed mineral. Similarly, cotton yarn, Pakistan’s largest export product to South China Region has shown significant growth due to stable supply coupled with price competitiveness. Significantly, rice and sesame seeds have exhibited increasing trend as compared to the corresponding period of the last year due to surge in demand for Pakistani grains with price competitiveness. China is a market which is highly price sensitive.

He further said that Pakistani exporters were able to secure bulk orders and this increasing trend in exports is likely to remain in H2 of this year. During recent visit to South China by a delegation of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan, the Mission has arranged multiple B2B sessions and the rice exporters of Pakistan have secured bulk purchase orders of rice and sesame seeds.

“With the opening up of maize market for Pakistani exporters this year, the export of agro food products to South China is expected to increase during the H2 thus maintaining upward growth trajectory. The Mission is actively exploring potential of all the three key export sectors to China-Mineral Sector, Textiles and Agro Food products-by approaching the relevant stakeholders in South China and connecting them with Pakistani exporters in close coordination with Trade Development Authority of Pakistan,” he told CEN.

Imran stated that, GACC data showed two distinct growth patterns across South China. Guangdong and Fujian Pakistan’s traditional, high-volume coastal markets grew on the strength of established trade lines in copper, cotton yarn and rice. Guangxi and Hainan, by contrast, posted much sharper percentage gains from a smaller base, driven largely by copper and mineral ore shipments that are relatively new or only recently scaled up suggesting Pakistani exporters and Chinese buyers are actively diversifying supply routes into China’s south beyond the long-established Zhejiang-Guangdong-Fujian corridor.

(Editor: liaoyifan）

Published Date: August 10, 2026