Guangdong province, which accounted for nearly a quarter of China's foreign trade, recorded a 25.2 percent drop in imports and exports in the first quarter, with a still grim situation forecast for this month.

Exports of the province declined by 22.4 percent year-on-year to 794.08 billion yuan ($127.63 billion) in the first three months, and imports decreased by 28.7 percent to 567.05 billion yuan, according to Guangdong Sub-Administration of China Customs on Wednesday.

General trade, which accounted for more than 40.4 percent of the province's foreign trade, rose by 13.9 percent while processing trade, which took up 47.2 percent of the total, dipped 22.6 percent.

Among all its major trading partners, Guangdong recorded growth in foreign trade only with the European Union (a 7.9 percent increase).

The substantial decline in foreign trade of Guangdong in the first quarter was attributed to gloomy external demand.

China sees trade deficit in Feb	Robust trade eases slowdown worries