HONG KONG -- China’s trade surplus surged to a record of almost $1.2 trillion in 2025, the government said Wednesday, as exports to other countries made up for slowing shipments to the U.S.under President Donald Trump's onslaught of higher tariffs.
China's exports rose 5.5% for the whole of last year to $3.77 trillion, customs data showed, as Chinese automakers and other manufacturers expanded into markets across the globe.Imports flatlined at $2.58 trillion.
The 2024 trade surplus was over $992 billion.In December, China’s exports climbed 6.6% from the year before in dollar terms, better than economists’ estimates and higher than November’s 5.9% year-on-year increase.Imports in December were up 5.7% year-on-year, compared to November’s 1.9%.China’s trade surplus surpassed the $1 trillion mark for the first time in November, when the trade surplus reached $1.08 trillion in the first 11 months of last year.Economists expect exports will continue to support China’s economy this year, despite trade friction and geopolitical tensions.“We continue to expect exports to act as a big growth driver in 2026,” said Jacqueline Rong, chief China economist at BNP Paribas.While China’s exports to the U.S.
have fallen sharply for most of last year since Trump returned to office and escalated his trade war with the world’s second-largest economy, that decline has been largely offset by shipments to other markets in South America, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.For the whole of 2025, China’s exports to the U.S.fell 20%.
In contrast, exports to Africa surged 26%.Those to Southeast Asian countries jumped 13%; to the European Union 8%, and to Latin America, 7%.Strong global demand for computer chips and other devices and the materials needed to make them were among categories that supported China’s exports, analysts said.
Car exports also grew last year.Popular ReadsState Department warns US citizens to leave VenezuelaJan 11, 10:28 PMMinneapolis ICE sho...