{"id":30977,"date":"2026-01-15T10:18:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T06:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/?p=30977"},"modified":"2026-03-03T15:01:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T11:01:33","slug":"china-reports-3-8t-exports-and-1-2t-trade-surplus-for-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/china-reports-3-8t-exports-and-1-2t-trade-surplus-for-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"China Reports $3.8T Exports and $1.2T Trade Surplus for 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On 14 January 2025, China Customs published its trade figures for 2025. Exports reached USD 3.77 trillion, while imports amounted to USD 2.58 trillion, giving China a whopping trade surplus of USD 1.19 trillion. In 2024, the figures were USD 3.57 trillion and USD 2.58 trillion for exports and imports, respectively. Thus, exports rose by 5.5% year-on-year despite a &#8216;challenging external environment&#8217;, while imports basically stagnated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Facing Trump&#8217;s tariffs, China pivoted to Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe to compensate for the shortfall in the USA. Thus, trade with AU increased by 26%, ASEAN by 14%, EU by 9%, and LAC by 8% year-on-year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some analysts believe that the export-led economy and huge surplus could be a source of friction with certain trade partners. To address these concerns, these analysts advocate for a more &#8216;reciprocal and balanced trade.&#8217; As evidenced by zero growth in imports, the general sentiment in China is not rosy, and boosting domestic consumption might be easier said than done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"China&#039;s 2025 trade surplus hits record $1.2 trillion | REUTERS\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eSlqB7xHeNE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To boost consumer confidence would probably require better social net coverage, but the Chinese government has been lukewarm about such reforms. China did launch a campaign of &#8216;Swap Old for New&#8217; by offering government subsidies to boost sales of electronics and household appliances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moreover, China has yet to recover from the real estate bubble burst. The real estate sector once accounted for nearly one-third of the <a href=\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/tag\/gdp\/\">#GDP<\/a> of the economy just a few years ago and was the primary source of income for many local governments through land leases. In the coming weeks, China is expected to release its GDP figures, and one can see more clearly where the Chinese economy now stands. The Government is now trying to recuperate these unfinished and unsold apartment buildings and repackage them as &#8216;social housing&#8217; to find an outlet and cut its losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, the China-USA trade volume dropped nearly 20%. Unexpectedly, the China-Russia trade volume also dropped, indicating that the support of China for the Russian economy might not be as strong as before.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"5e5c93\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #5e5c93;\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SCIO-01w-jpg.webp\" alt=\"China Customs Releases 2025 Foreign Trade Data at Press Conference\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-31014\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SCIO-01w-jpg.webp 600w, https:\/\/gbc1.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SCIO-01w-300x200.webp 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">China Customs Releases 2025 Foreign Trade Data at Press Conference<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>From a product perspective, the <a href=\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/tag\/threenewstuff\/\">#ThreeNewStuff<\/a>, viz, <a href=\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/tag\/ev\/\">#EV<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/tag\/pv\/\">#PV<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/tag\/ess\/\">#ESS<\/a>, stood out with a growth of nearly 30%. Industrial machinery, including high-end production robots, displayed a robust growth of 13%. China&#8217;s policy is to scale up the global value chain (<a href=\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/tag\/gvc\/\">#GVC<\/a>) and shed its image of a low-cost, low-quality manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking at the export revenue may appear rosy, but it does not tell the whole picture. Many manufacturers and exporters had to offer steep discounts to attract new markets and customers. The US market was a lucrative market that was not too concerned about price, compared to markets in developing countries, which are more price-sensitive. Thus, despite achieving fatter exports, many Chinese companies experience slimmer margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The figures were made public by China Customs during a news briefing by the State Council Information Office (<a href=\"http:\/\/english.scio.gov.cn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SCIO<\/a>) on Wednesday, 14 January 2026. Wang Jun, Deputy Director-General of the General Administration of Customs of China (<a href=\"http:\/\/english.customs.gov.cn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GACC<\/a>), underlined that by diversifying its trading partners, China has displayed an ability to weather the storm. However, he warned that the momentum for global trade growth has slowed, and the external environment for China remains complex and challenging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On 14 January 2025, China Customs published its trade figures for 2025. Exports reached USD 3.77 trillion, while imports amounted<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":0,"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":""},"categories":[249],"tags":[161,49,148,128,186,1160],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.12 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>China Reports $3.8T Exports and $1.2T Trade Surplus for 2025<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/china-reports-3-8t-exports-and-1-2t-trade-surplus-for-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China Reports $3.8T Exports and $1.2T Trade Surplus for 2025\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On 14 January 2025, China Customs published its trade figures for 2025. Exports reached USD 3.77 trillion, while imports amounted\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/china-reports-3-8t-exports-and-1-2t-trade-surplus-for-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Global Business Council (GBC)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-15T06:18:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-03T11:01:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Shanghai-Port-W-jpg.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"gbc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"gbc\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/china-reports-3-8t-exports-and-1-2t-trade-surplus-for-2025\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/china-reports-3-8t-exports-and-1-2t-trade-surplus-for-2025\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"gbc\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/#\/schema\/person\/cab6d6e84e5294af65e6aa76c5752fad\"},\"headline\":\"China Reports $3.8T Exports and $1.2T Trade Surplus for 2025\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-15T06:18:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-03T11:01:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/china-reports-3-8t-exports-and-1-2t-trade-surplus-for-2025\/\"},\"wordCount\":539,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"ESS\",\"EV\",\"GDP\",\"GVC\",\"PV\",\"ThreeNewStuff\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Trade &amp; Invest\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/china-reports-3-8t-exports-and-1-2t-trade-surplus-for-2025\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/china-reports-3-8t-exports-and-1-2t-trade-surplus-for-2025\/\",\"name\":\"China Reports $3.8T Exports and $1.2T Trade Surplus for 2025\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-15T06:18:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-03T11:01:33+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/china-reports-3-8t-exports-and-1-2t-trade-surplus-for-2025\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/china-reports-3-8t-exports-and-1-2t-trade-surplus-for-2025\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/china-reports-3-8t-exports-and-1-2t-trade-surplus-for-2025\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"China Reports $3.8T Exports and $1.2T Trade Surplus for 2025\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/\",\"name\":\"Global Business Council (GBC)\",\"description\":\"Connecting ... 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