GUIYANG -- Southwest China's Guizhou province reported robust export growth in the first seven months of this year despite the COVID-19 epidemic.

Guizhou's exports hit 20.94 billion yuan (about $3 billion) in the Jan-July period, up by 24.5 percent year-on-year, the second-highest growth pace among all provincial-level regions nationwide, said Ji Hong, director of the provincial commerce department.

Imports fell by 37.5 percent year-on-year to 4.35 billion yuan, the official told reporters.

Exports fared better than expected as the province has taken a slew of measures to help export-oriented enterprises and foreign-funded businesses resume production in an orderly manner to counter the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, Ji said.

Local authorities have rolled out more than 30 support polices, including measures to help tackle the enterprises' financing bottlenecks, support with customs guarantee insurance, and reduce logistics costs, Ji said.