China’s annual trade surplus hits a record $1.2 trillion as December exports beat
QINGDAO, CHINA – JANUARY 13, 2026 – Cargo ship loads and unloads foreign trade containers at Qingdao Port in Qingdao City, China’s Shandong Province, on January 13, 2026.
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China’s export growth in December sharply exceeded expectations, pushing the annual trade surplus to a record level, despite imports rising at the fastest pace in three months.
Exports rose 6.6% in U.S. dollar terms last month from a year ago, beating analysts’ average forecast for 3% growth and accelerating from a 5.9% increase in November, Chinese customs data showed on Wednesday.
Imports increased by 5.7% in December compared to the previous year, exceeding growth expectations of 0.9%; Imports were the strongest since a 7.4% increase in September last year, according to LSEG data.
China’s full-year exports increased by 5.5% compared to 2024, while imports remained stable and Beijing’s trade surplus increased to $1.19 trillion.
Trade tensions with the United States led to double-digit declines in Chinese shipments to the country for much of last year.
As Chinese exporters increase their shipments to markets outside the United States, the growing trade imbalance has raised concerns from major trading partners including the European Union.
At a press conference in December, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva called on Beijing to move away from dependence on exports for growth and step up efforts to boost domestic consumption.
Chinese officials He promised to increase imports and we will work to balance trade.
Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, expects Beijing to keep its macro policy stance unchanged at least in the first quarter as strong export growth helps alleviate soft domestic demand and trade tensions with the United States ease.
China and the United States agreed in October to roll back a series of export control measures and high tariffs as part of a 1-year trade truce, following the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Donald Trump.
While overall exports will grow strongly in 2025, trade tensions with the United States led to double-digit declines in Chinese shipments to the country for much of last year.
China will release annual and fourth-quarter gross domestic product data next Monday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the world’s second-largest economy to grow by 4.5% in the last quarter. Beijing had set its 2025 growth target at around 5 percent.
The nearly $19 trillion economy has struggled to weather deflationary pressure as a deepening real estate collapse weighs on household demand and a weak job market dampens consumer confidence. Consumer prices in the country remained flat in 2025, missing the official target of increasing by about 2%.
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