Hunan Province recorded a total import and export value of 541.41 billion CNY in 2025, maintaining the trade volume above 500 billion CNY for five consecutive years. This represents an increase of 10.8 percent compared to 2020, the final year of China's 13th Five-Year Plan period, as announced at a press conference on Hunan's foreign trade held on January 21.

Several sectors achieved new breakthroughs. The export value of Hunan’s automobiles surpassed 30 billion CNY for the first time, reaching 33.84 billion CNY, a year-on-year increase of 26.8 percent. Within this, exports of electric vehicles exceeded 100,000 units for the first time, surging by 128.2 percent. The number of enterprises in the province with actual import and export performance exceeded 9,000 for the first time, with export enterprises surpassing 8,000, marking year-on-year increases of 9.6 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively.

Global market expansion deepened with more diversified trading partners. Hunan's trade network has largely covered the global market, achieving import and export growth with 118 countries and regions in 2025. Trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) amounted to 320.08 billion CNY, accounting for 59.1 percent of the province's total. Imports and exports with emerging markets including ASEAN, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East jointly contributed 2 percentage points to the province's overall trade growth. Trade with African nations reached a historic high of 58 billion CNY. This performance has kept Hunan ranked first among central and western Chinese provinces for seven consecutive years, with trade volume remaining above 50 billion CNY for four consecutive years.