Summary
- China said it recorded a record-high trade surplus and nine consecutive years of growth in exports and imports last year.
- China reported that exports to the U.S. fell 20%, while it expanded trade centered on Africa, ASEAN and Belt and Road participating countries.
- Experts said export diversification, expansion into emerging markets, and stronger competitiveness in high-tech products underpinned the improvement in China’s trade structure.
Aggressive export diversification strategy pays off
Gains in emerging markets…U.S. 20%↓, Africa 25%↑
Also seen as an upgrade to the trade structure
China posted a record-high trade surplus last year despite an intense tariff war with the United States, according to an analysis that points to Beijing’s swift push to diversify exports.
According to the General Administration of Customs of China on the 14th, China’s exports last year totaled 45.47 trillion yuan (about 9,632 trillion won), up 3.8% from a year earlier. China’s overall trade volume has extended its growth streak for nine consecutive years since 2017.
Exports came to 26.99 trillion yuan, up 6.1% year on year, while imports rose 0.5% over the same period to 18.48 trillion yuan. Both exports and imports last year surpassed the previous record highs set in 2024.
Major foreign media outlets including Reuters and Bloomberg said China’s trade surplus last year hit a record $1.189 trillion (1,757 trillion won).
Wang Jun, deputy head of the General Administration of Customs, said at a press briefing that “even amid a complex and unstable international environment, China’s exports and imports expanded for nine consecutive years,” adding that it marked “the longest uninterrupted growth streak since China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO).”
Wang noted that “this year’s external trade environment remains challenging, with overall momentum looking weak,” but stressed that “China’s institutional strengths, industrial system and human capital advantages are becoming even more pronounced.”
China traded with 240 countries last year. Trade expanded with 190 of them. Trade with the United States totaled 4.01 trillion yuan, accounting for 8.8% of total exports.
Trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative reached 23.6 trillion yuan, up 6.3% from a year earlier, accounting for 51.9% of total trade.
In particular, trade with ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), Latin America and Africa was tallied at 7.55 trillion yuan, 3.93 trillion yuan and 2.49 trillion yuan, respectively—up 8%, 6.5% and 18.4% from a year earlier.
China’s exports to the United States fell 20% from 2024. By contrast, exports to Africa and ASEAN increased 25.8% and 13.4%, respectively. Exports to the European Union (EU) and Latin America also rose 8.4% and 7.4%.
Through the first half of last year, expectations were widespread that China’s export sector would take a heavy hit if U.S. President Donald Trump returned to power. But the outcome showed China succeeded in reducing its reliance on the U.S. market, as exporters revamped supply chains and focused on diversifying sales toward emerging markets.
Bai Ming, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, told state-run English-language daily the Global Times that “this achievement, reached under pressure from a complex external environment, clearly shows improvements in the quality and competitiveness of China’s foreign trade firms and their ability to adapt to international markets.”
He added that “diversifying trading partners—especially boosting export competitiveness in high-tech products—and expanding opening-up by increasing imports proved effective.”
Beijing=Correspondent Kim Eun-jeong kej@hankyung.com
