GUANGZHOU - Privately-owned enterprises recorded 1.98 trillion yuan ($309 billion) 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.

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.