Photo: VCG

Southwest China's Guizhou Province reported robust export growth in the first seven months of this year despite the COVID-19 epidemic.

Guizhou's exports hit 20.94 billion yuan (about 3 billion U.S. dollars) in the Jan.-July period, up by 24.5 percent year on year, the second-highest growth pace among all provincial-level regions nationwide, said Ji Hong, director of the provincial commerce department.

Imports fell by 37.5 percent year on year to 4.35 billion yuan, the official told reporters.

Exports fared better than expected as the province has taken a slew of measures to help export-oriented enterprises and foreign-funded businesses resume production in an orderly manner to counter the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, Ji said.

Local authorities have rolled out more than 30 support polices, including measures to help tackle the enterprises' financing bottlenecks, support with customs guarantee insurance, and reduce logistics costs, Ji said.