GUANGZHOU, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Privately-owned enterprises recorded 1.98 trillion yuan (309 billion U.S. dollars) in exports to become the largest contributor to exports in China's southern province of Guangdong for the first time in 2017.

Last year, imports and exports in Guangdong exceeded 6.8 trillion yuan, up 8 percent year on year, with a trade surplus of 1.62 trillion yuan, according to statistics issued on Friday by the Guangdong branch of the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

The trade volume of Guangdong's privately-owned enterprises hit 3.14 trillion yuan, up 14.5 percent year on year. The number accounted for 46.1 percent of the provincial total, 2.6 percentage points higher than 2016.

In 2016, foreign-funded enterprises were the largest contributor to Guangdong's exports.

Notably, Guangdong's trade with countries and regions along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road amounted to 1.5 trillion yuan, up 14.9 percent year on year.

The city of Shenzhen recorded 2.8 trillion yuan in imports and exports last year, accounting for around 10 percent of the national total, up 6.5 percent year on year.

Its exports grew 5.5 percent from 2016 to 1.65 trillion yuan last year, the top city on the Chinese mainland for 25 consecutive years.

Shenzhen's trade volume with the United States, European Union, Republic of Korea and Australia all increased by over 10 percent in 2017.

China's foreign trade volume rose 14.2 percent year on year to 27.79 trillion yuan last year, ending the continuous decline of the previous two years.

The country's exports increased 10.8 percent to reach 15.33 trillion yuan while imports surged 18.7 percent to 12.46 trillion yuan, the GAC said.

GAC spokesperson Huang Songping attributed the double-digit trade volume growth to the global economic recovery, steady domestic economic expansion, rising commodity prices, emerging markets along the Belt and Road route and a low comparison base.