Ahmed khan 2027
131 posts
Jun 04, 2026
4:27 AM
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China’s trade data remains one of the clearest windows into the country’s industrial momentum, domestic demand, and external economic ties. The General Administration of Customs of China publishes regular preliminary releases, monthly bulletins, quarterly releases, and country-and-product tables, making its data one of the most detailed public trade datasets available. As of the latest customs statistics pages, the most recent releases available include February 2026 trade tables and January–February 2026 updates.
The big picture in the latest numbers
For the first quarter of 2025, China’s foreign trade in goods reached RMB 10.3 trillion, up 1.3% year on year. Exports rose 6.9% to RMB 6.13 trillion, while imports fell 6% to RMB 4.17 trillion. That combination suggests a trade structure in which outbound shipments stayed resilient even as inbound demand softened. Customs also noted that trade volumes stayed above RMB 10 trillion for eight consecutive quarters, showing how large-scale trade activity remained stable despite a difficult global backdrop.
Why exports stayed stronger than imports
The same customs review pointed to a clear split between export performance and import performance. Exports were supported by strong momentum in electromechanical goods, while imports were weaker overall. In the first quarter of 2025, imports and exports of electromechanical products rose 7.7% to RMB 5.29 trillion verified China suppliers, and customs highlighted fast growth in items such as household appliances, laptops, and electronic components. That pattern usually signals that China’s manufacturing base still has strong external demand, even when domestic purchasing conditions are less robust.
The role of private firms and trade diversification
China’s trade composition also continued to shift toward private enterprises. In the first quarter of 2025, imports and exports by private firms rose 5.8% to RMB 5.85 trillion, accounting for 56.8% of total trade, up 2.4 percentage points from a year earlier. Trade with Belt and Road partner countries also grew faster than overall trade, reaching RMB 5.26 trillion in the quarter, up 2.2%, while trade with ASEAN reached RMB 1.71 trillion, up 7.1%. This points to a broadening trade network rather than dependence on a single market.
What the full-year 2025 data suggests
Full-year 2025 customs data showed continued expansion. China’s total export and import value reached USD 6.3548 trillion, up 3.2% year on year. Exports totaled USD 3.7719 trillion, up 5.5%, while imports were USD 2.5829 trillion, essentially flat year on year at 0.0%. Customs also reported that ordinary trade remained the largest channel, with USD 4.0116 trillion in total value. This is an important sign that China’s trade machine was still growing, but the import side was not keeping pace with exports.
Trade partners and regional patterns
The February 2026 country-and-region table shows how broad China’s trade footprint remains. In the first two months of 2026, trade with the European Union, ASEAN, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Latin America, Africa, RCEP economies, and Belt and Road partners all remained large and active. The customs table also shows sharp differences in growth rates by partner: ASEAN trade rose 20.3% year on year in February 2026, while trade with the United States fell 16.9% year on year in the same period. Trade with Belt and Road countries rose 20.0%, and trade with RCEP economies rose 21.6%. These figures show how China’s trade is increasingly shaped by regional supply chains and multipolar demand rather than one dominant route alone.
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