Rapid development in new modes of foreign trade will help upgrade traditional manufacturing and boost reform and innovation efforts in the traditional trade sector in the Pearl River Delta region, according to industrial insiders.

Citing the increased number of cross-border e-commerce transactions in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, Chen Wanling, director of the international economy and trade research center of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, said the new foreign trade modes would also help boost exports of local products.

The new foreign trade modes include improving foreign trade services, cross-border e-commerce, financial leasing and bonded imports.

"Increased efficiency of new modes of foreign trade has greatly helped reduce costs for thousands of local manufacturers," Chen said.

The imports and exports of cross-border e-commerce increased by 72.9 percent year-on-year to 20.35 billion yuan ($3.13 billion) in the first 11 months of 2017 in Guangzhou, according to local customs officials.

The city's cross-border e-commerce value accounted for about 30 percent of the country's total in 2017, ranking the top of all Chinese cities for the fourth consecutive year.

The city's Nansha Port has also become the country's second largest port in "auto parallel" imports, a term that describes vehicles bought from other markets for sale in China, with more than 10,000 vehicles being unloaded at the port in 2017.

"New business modes in foreign trade have played an increased role in boosting the local economy," Chen said.

Financial leasing and bonded imports of airplanes at the Nansha Port also increased 125 percent year-on-year to 12 billion yuan in 2017, according to the local customs.

China will increase imports and cut import tariffs on some products to promote balanced trade, according to a statement released after the Central Economic Work Conference, the country's most important annual meeting on economic work, which concluded in late December.

"The new modes of foreign trade will also help promote balanced trade," Chen said.

According to Li Jinling, chief executive officer of Guangdong Top Ideal Cross-border E-Commerce SCM Service Co Ltd, one out of 10 lists of bonded imported goods came from Guangzhou in 2017.

"We are expanding businesses in the global market, thanks to the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce," Li said.

The company's bonded imports value in 2017 was four times of that of 2016, according to Li.

The booming development in cross-border e-commerce was based on the increased efficiency of customs' IT platform, which examines and certifies information of goods in transaction, logistics and consumption quotas, according to Li.