Insight into China's foreign trade trends from the past 5 months' data

On June 9th, the General Administration of Customs released data showing that in the first five months of 2026, China's foreign trade imports and exports reached 20.68 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of 15.3%, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from the previous four months, fully demonstrating the vigorous pulse of being the largest country in goods trade.

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to accelerate the cultivation of new foreign trade drivers and promote the optimization and upgrading of goods trade.  

Double acceleration shows resilience

Data fluctuation is an important dimension for measuring the operation of foreign trade. Upon closer examination of the latest data, the acceleration of both exports and imports constitutes an important support for the sustained and stable growth of China's foreign trade.

——On the export side, the year-on-year growth rate of 11.91 trillion yuan in exports in the first five months reached 11.8%, an increase of 0.5 percentage points compared to the first four months. Among them, the export of high-tech and high value-added electromechanical products reached 7.58 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.4%, accounting for 63.6% of China's total export value during the same period. The export of green products such as lithium batteries and wind turbines increased by about 40%.

——On the import side, China's cumulative imports in the first five months amounted to 8.77 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.5%, which was also 0.5 percentage points faster than the first four months. Among them, imports increased by 21.5% in May, with a year-on-year growth of over 20% for three consecutive months. With the improvement of external demand in the manufacturing industry, China's imports of mechanical and electrical products increased by 25.3% in the first five months, and imports of intermediate goods in the manufacturing industry increased by nearly 40%.

As for China's foreign trade performance in the first five months, Reuters, Deutsche Presse-Agentur and other foreign media reported on the 9th that China's "trade engine is accelerating" and a number of data are "continuously strengthening". The bright performance boosted the market's confidence in the high-quality development of China's economy, reflecting the irreplaceable resilience and competitiveness of Made in China in the global supply chain.

Through different dimensions, we can better feel the trend of China's foreign trade growing against the trend and making steady progress.

The latest issue of the "Goods Trade Barometer" released by the World Trade Organization shows that the global goods trade sentiment index is currently 101.7, slightly lower than January's 102.3, indicating that the growth of goods trade may begin to slow down. The OECD report points out that the evolving conflicts in the Middle East pose a test of global economic resilience.

Faced with a complex and severe external environment, our confidence remains firm, "said Wang Jun, Deputy Director General of the General Administration of Customs." The supporting conditions and basic trends for China's long-term economic growth have not changed, and the advantages and potential of foreign trade continue to be demonstrated. In May, China's manufacturing PMI was 50.0%, and the overall production and operation situation of enterprises remained stable. Among them, the PMI of high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing industries continued to be above the critical point, and the leading role of new driving forces continued to emerge.

Against the backdrop of increasing uncertainty and risks in international trade, China has become a "stable anchor" and "driving force" for global trade, with both import and export data improving, overall economic stability stabilizing, and new growth points accelerating.

By the end of 2025, China will maintain trade relations with nearly 250 countries and regions. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, China has signed 24 free trade agreements with 31 countries and regions, increasing the proportion of imports and exports to free trade partners to 45%. At the same time, China continues to expand imports, better leveraging its role as the "world factory" and "world market", sharing opportunities in the Chinese market with other countries, and making Chinese contributions to responding to global trade changes.

Optimize structural activation force

AI glasses that can take photos and record videos, mechanical exoskeletons that can reduce the burden and speed for climbers, AI navigation, and real-time translation screens that support over 100 languages... Walking into the sixth generation market in Yiwu, Zhejiang - the Global Digital Trade Center, technology products are constantly emerging and digital scenes are everywhere. Merchants are constantly innovating and expanding their business to the world.

Under the complex and severe external environment, China's trade development is undergoing structural changes.

Further shifting from exporting primary products and developing processing trade to exporting intermediate and capital goods, foreign trade enterprises are actively responding to multiple challenges such as rising production costs and fierce market competition by continuously increasing research and development investment and producing more innovative achievements.

In the first five months of this year, the export of mechanical and electrical products increased China's overall export by 11.1 percentage points. Among them, the export of automobiles, electrical equipment, and ships increased by 45.5%, 24.7%, and 22.5% year-on-year, respectively. The added value of exported products significantly increased, and the global industrial chain embedding degree significantly deepened.

Recently, at Ecovacs Robotics Co., Ltd. located in Suzhou, Jiangsu, the production line is accelerating the production of overseas orders, and trucks are synchronously loading and shipping from the warehouse. We provide customized design for different demand scenarios, from underlying technology, key components to the entire machine, all of which are developed and produced by ourselves. We update the next generation in about 6 to 9 months, "said Ma Xianbin, the public relations director of the company. Recently, we have sent out more than 30 container sets per day, thanks to our increasingly fast response capabilities, and our competitive advantage has been further consolidated.

Integrating into various aspects of production and life, entering multiple scenarios such as shopping malls and factories... Currently, Chinese robots are accelerating their integration into research and development, manufacturing, and application processes, becoming a new driving force for foreign trade growth.

Data shows that in the first five months, China's total import and export of artificial intelligence related products such as electronic components, computer parts, and fiber optic cables amounted to 4.12 trillion yuan, a significant increase of 52.4% year-on-year.

Lv Daliang, Director of the Statistics and Analysis Department of the General Administration of Customs, stated that since the beginning of this year, the overall import and export of artificial intelligence related products in China has been expanding month by month. On the one hand, it meets the needs of domestic industrial intelligence upgrading, and on the other hand, it provides stable supply for the development of the global artificial intelligence industry, and the "intelligence content" of foreign trade continues to increase.

From the popularity of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products overseas, to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, robots, and innovative drugs as the "new three", The Economist magazine cited an analysis by McKinsey Global Institute, stating that "China used to be the world's factory, but now it is becoming a 'factory of factories'". The significant expansion of exports of intermediate products such as processors, chips, and lithium-ion batteries, as well as capital goods such as equipment and machine tools, reflects the strong confidence and innovation driven momentum of China's industrial upgrading.

Open up and explore new paths to unleash potential

Recently, a batch of ornamental fish such as catfish and butterfly fish with a value of about 70000 yuan from Egypt arrived at the Guangzhou Baiyun Airport port. After being supervised and inspected by Guangzhou Baiyun Airport customs officers, they were sent to the designated entry aquatic animal quarantine site. After passing the quarantine inspection, they will enter the domestic market for sale.

Previously, the import tariff rate for ornamental fish originating from Egypt was 10%. After China fully implemented zero tariff measures for 53 African countries with diplomatic relations, Egyptian ornamental fish can enjoy zero tariff imports, effectively helping enterprises reduce costs and enhance market competitiveness. We are very confident in continuing to expand the scale of imports from African countries this year, "said Li Hailun, manager of Guangdong Blue Ocean Marine Technology Co., Ltd.

The zero tariff measures have pushed China Africa trade to a new level. According to customs statistics, in the first five months, China's imports and exports to African countries reached 1.14 trillion yuan, breaking through 1 trillion yuan for the first time in history, a year-on-year increase of 18.2%. In May, the growth rate of China's imports of high-quality specialty products from Africa further accelerated, with fruit and aquatic products including South African apples and Kenyan avocados increasing by over 30% month on month.

Recently, the customs have established unified quarantine requirements for dried chili peppers and coffee beans from African countries that have diplomatic relations with China. As long as they meet the requirements, they can be exported to China without individual entry, providing an upgraded 'green channel' for African agricultural and food products to be exported to China, "said Lv Daliang.

Not only in non trade, in the first five months, China's import and export growth rates to ASEAN, EU, Latin America and other regions were all above double digits. Behind the continuous expansion of the "friend circle" in foreign trade is a sustained effort to actively shift from a single market to a diversified market layout on a large scale. Many foreign trade enterprises have gone from focusing on the old markets in Europe and the United States to co constructing emerging markets such as the "the Belt and Road" countries. Their sales territory is growing, and there are more and more old friends and new friends.

Our newly built factory in Vietnam has been put into operation, "said Wang Jiazhong, Senior Vice President of Yadea Technology. Since last year, the company has accelerated its" going global "and maintained double-digit growth in overseas market sales share. At present, we are collaborating with Indonesian companies on software systems, payment models, and selecting locations to establish vehicle production, battery fast charging, and after-sales service stores.

In just over ten days, the world's first national level exhibition with supply chain as its theme, the 4th China International Supply Chain Promotion Expo, will be held in Beijing; In the second half of the year, national level exhibition platforms such as Canton Fair and CIIE will also make efforts to empower them. Guided by high-level opening-up, deepening reform and innovation, and expanding cooperation space, China's foreign trade will further unleash its growth potential while cultivating new advantages, injecting stronger confidence and strength into the recovery and development of the world economy.