South China's Guangdong Province is targeting economic growth of more than 6 percent this year, Governor Ma Xingrui said Sunday.

Photo taken on March 19, 2019 shows the view of the Central Business District (CBD) in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. (Photo: Xinhua)

The province recorded 2.3-percent GDP growth in 2020 to exceed 11 trillion yuan (about 1.7 trillion U.S. dollars), Ma said while delivering a government work report at the annual session of the provincial legislature.

Its GDP volume has continued to lead China's provincial-level regions, Ma added.

Guangdong, a manufacturing heartland and leading foreign trade player in the country, has been successful in resuming production and business after the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the report.

Meanwhile, the province's total imports and exports of goods shrank by 0.9 percent year on year in 2020 to 7.08 trillion yuan, according to the provincial statistics bureau.

In breakdown, exports edged up 0.2 percent while imports dropped by 2.6 percent, the bureau said in a report delivered to the legislative session.

China's national GDP increased 2.3 percent year on year last year, likely the only major economy to post growth in the pandemic-ravaged year.