GUANGZHOU, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Total foreign trade in south China's Guangdong Province contracted by 1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year to 1.55 trillion yuan (230 billion U.S. dollars), customs statistics show.

The trade accounted for 22.1 percent of the country's total, which increased by 3.7 percent compared with the same period last year, according to Guangdong customs.

Affected by the Spring Festival holiday, Guangdong's foreign trade fluctuated sharply in the first two months of the year, while it remained steady in March, with the imports and exports soaring 55.7 percent month-on-month to 558.73 billion yuan.

Despite the slight decline in foreign trade, Guangdong saw rapid growth in imports of key equipment and quality consumer goods such as devices for producing flat panel displays, aquatic products and cosmetics, as well as exports of some machinery and electronic products.