Towards novelty and excellence, China's foreign trade has seen nine consecutive increases (authoritative release)
On January 14th, the State Council Information Office held a press conference, where Wang Jun, Deputy Director General of the General Administration of Customs, introduced the import and export situation for the whole year of 2025. According to customs statistics, China's foreign trade imports and exports for the whole year reached a historical high of 4.547 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.8%. China will continue to maintain its position as the world's largest country in goods trade. "Wang Jun said that in the face of a complex and severe external environment, China's economy is pushing forward under pressure, developing towards new and better directions, taking new steps in reform and opening up, and achieving rapid growth in goods trade, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality.
In December 2025, imports and exports set a new record for the highest monthly scale
In the complex situation of profound changes in the international environment and major challenges to the world economic and trade order, China's imports and exports still achieved a rapid growth of 3.8%, which is the ninth consecutive year of growth and the longest continuous growth since China's accession to the WTO. In December 2025, the monthly imports and exports reached 4.26 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%, setting a new record for the highest monthly scale. Such achievements in foreign trade throughout the year are extraordinary and hard won, "Wang Jun introduced.
The market is more diverse. China has trade relations with over 240 countries and regions, and has achieved growth in imports and exports with more than 190 countries and regions. Among them, the import and export to countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" was 23.6 trillion yuan, up 6.3%, accounting for 51.9% of the total import and export value; Imports and exports to ASEAN, Latin America, and Africa amounted to 7.55 trillion yuan, 3.93 trillion yuan, and 2.49 trillion yuan, respectively, with growth rates of 8%, 6.5%, and 18.4%.
Export towards new and better directions. China's high-tech product exports reached 5.25 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.2%. The export of green products such as "New Three Samples" and wind turbines increased by 27.1% and 48.7% respectively. The export of domestic brand products increased by 12.9%, accounting for 1.4 percentage points of the total export value.
Enterprises have more vitality. There are over 780000 business entities with import and export records in China. Among them, private enterprises continue to play the role of the "main engine" of foreign trade, with imports and exports reaching 26.04 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.1%, and accounting for 57.3% of the total import and export value.
Imports continue to grow. Despite the decline in international market prices, China's imports have maintained growth for three consecutive quarters since the second quarter. The import of mechanical and electrical products for the whole year was 7.41 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.7%, of which the import value of electronic components and computer parts increased by 9.7% and 20% respectively.
Wang Jun stated that thanks to the strong promotion of stable foreign trade policies, the sustained release of import potential in super large markets, and the continuous adaptation of a complete industrial system to overseas demand, foreign trade will achieve stable growth by 2025. Looking ahead to 2026, the global trade growth momentum is insufficient, and the external environment facing China's foreign trade development remains severe and complex, with significant pressure to stabilize foreign trade. At the same time, China's economic foundation is stable, with many advantages, strong resilience, and great potential. The supporting conditions and basic trends for long-term improvement have not changed, and the pace of trade innovation and development will become more solid, with the basic foundation still stable.
The economic and trade relations between China and the United States have attracted much attention. According to the statistical data of goods trade between the two sides, China is the third largest export destination and third largest import source country of the United States. The United States is the first largest export destination and third largest import source country of goods for China, "said Lv Daliang, spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs and Director of the Statistical Analysis Department." The essence of China US economic and trade is mutual benefit and win-win. Maintaining stable, healthy, and sustainable development of China US economic and trade relations is beneficial to both countries and the world. China and the United States should jointly implement the consensus of the two heads of state, continuously compress the list of issues and lengthen the list of cooperation through dialogue and consultation, and make China US economic and trade relations the 'ballast' and 'propeller' of China US relations
Exports withstand headwinds, imports continue to grow year-on-year for 7 consecutive months
From the perspective of exports, by 2025, China's exports will withstand headwinds and achieve a scale of 26.99 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%. Wang Jun introduced that reasonable growth in quantity comes from effective improvement in quality. The color of China's export innovation and development is more abundant, the background of green development is stronger, and the color of win-win development is brighter.
Adapt to international market demands through innovation. In 2025, the export of high-tech products increased by 13.2% year-on-year, driving China's export growth by 2.4 percentage points. Among them, exports of specialized equipment, high-end machine tools, and industrial robots increased by 20.6%, 21.5%, and 48.7% respectively. Especially for industrial robots, exports exceed imports.
Promote global low-carbon transformation through green initiatives. In the field of green energy, exports of lithium batteries and wind turbines will increase by 26.2% and 48.7% respectively by 2025; In the field of green transportation, exports of electric motorcycles and bicycles increased by 18.1%, while exports of railway electric locomotives increased by 27.1%. High quality green supply provides a Chinese solution for global green transformation.
Promote common development through cooperation. China's intermediate goods trade has achieved rapid growth, which is the main driving force for exports and provides strong support for global industrial cooperation. The export market is more diversified. In 2025, the export to countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" will increase by 11.2%, driving the export growth by 5.4 percentage points. ASEAN has become the largest export market in China for three consecutive years. China continues to provide high-quality, high priced, stable and reliable product supply to the world, becoming a key link in the global industrial and supply chains.
From the perspective of imports, by 2025, China's imports will reach 18.48 trillion yuan, a historic high in scale, and will become the world's second largest import market for 17 consecutive years. With the continuous recovery and improvement of China's economy, stable production growth, and expanded consumer demand driving imports to stabilize, imports have maintained year-on-year growth for seven consecutive months since June, and the growth rate further accelerated to 4.4% in December, indicating a sustained improvement in import trends. Wang Jun said that in the future, China's door to opening up will continue to widen, and the space for import growth is vast. The Chinese market is always a great opportunity for the world. The customs will further innovate the regulatory system to provide better customs clearance supervision and services for expanding imports.
The import and export of private enterprises account for 57.3% of the total foreign trade value
Wang Jun introduced that the vast number of foreign trade operators are facing difficulties and forging ahead, with continuously increasing endogenous and innovative momentum, jointly promoting stable growth and improving the quality and efficiency of China's foreign trade.
Private enterprises have more abundant innovation momentum and continuously enhance their strength. By 2025, the proportion of imports and exports of private enterprises in China's total foreign trade value will increase by 1.8 percentage points to 57.3%, and the export of high-tech products will grow by 14.8%. Among them, the proportion of high-end equipment will increase by 26.9%, accounting for nearly 60% of the national total. Private enterprises account for over 70% of the total foreign trade value of specialized, refined, and innovative "little giant" enterprises in China. In the field of new business formats, private enterprises saw a 9.2% increase in exports through market procurement.
The confidence of foreign-funded enterprises in the Chinese market remains stable. A recent survey by relevant institutions on multinational corporations shows that over 90% of the surveyed companies will continue to invest in China. In 2025, the import and export of foreign-funded enterprises reached 1.327 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.7%, and has maintained growth for seven consecutive quarters.
State owned enterprises play an important role in ensuring the supply of energy resources and enhancing the resilience of the industrial chain. By 2025, the import and export of state-owned enterprises will reach 6.06 trillion yuan, accounting for 13.3% of China's total foreign trade value.
A major foreign trade province shoulders the heavy burden. Lv Daliang introduced that by 2025, the total import and export of seven provinces and cities including Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Shandong, Beijing, and Fujian will reach 34.11 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.7%, contributing more than half of China's foreign trade increment and effectively stabilizing the basic situation of foreign trade. Among them, the import and export of high-tech products increased by 11.4%, driving the overall import and export of 7 provinces and cities by 2.2 percentage points. The import and export of electronic information, high-end equipment and other products achieved rapid growth.
Reporter's Notes
Injecting more certainty into global economic and trade development
Continuing to maintain its position as the world's largest trading nation in goods, achieving the longest continuous growth since China's accession to the WTO, and becoming the world's second largest import market for 17 consecutive years... In 2025, China's foreign trade highlights will be diverse, demonstrating strong resilience. Against the backdrop of slowing global economic growth and the rise of unilateralism and protectionism, achieving such results is not easy.
The continuously growing "circle of friends" helps China's foreign trade to move forward under pressure. In April 2025, the United States announced the imposition of so-called "equivalent tariffs" on all trading partners, including China. While the world is paying attention to China's foreign trade, private enterprises that have been growing and expanding in the wind and rain have embarked on a new journey to explore new markets around the world. There are more than 240 countries and regions that have trade relations with China, and Chinese products are expanding into broader and more profound areas.
Continuously innovating Chinese manufacturing helps China's foreign trade win the market. The "new content" and "green content" of China's foreign trade are constantly increasing. Traditional ceramic techniques are integrated with overseas culture, and the innovative ceramic tree has become a new choice for holiday decoration abroad; The outdoor temperature exceeds 60 degrees Celsius, and the 'desert air conditioner' can still work normally; Smart toys have touch sensing and situational dialogue functions, providing consumers with novel emotional consumption experiences. Chinese manufacturing continuously adapts to diverse market demands through innovation.
The sustained release of the huge market potential in our country also provides new opportunities for market development for the world. By 2025, China will import goods worth 18.48 trillion yuan, accounting for around 10% of the global import share.
The external environment is increasingly uncertain and unpredictable, and the pressure to stabilize foreign trade is still significant. However, China's pace of innovative trade development is more solid, its advantages are more prominent, its trading partners are more diverse, and its development resilience is stronger, which will inject more certainty into global economic and trade development.