China's 2026 trade surplus tops $1 trillion by October

11/11/2026 04:24 AST

China's trade surplus swelled to more than $1 trillion in the first 10 months of the year, official data showed on Tuesday, reaching the milestone a month earlier than last year's record-breaking total.

Exports jumped 35.2 percent year-on-year to $412.3 billion in October, while imports grew 41.6 percent to $307.1 billion, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC). That brought China's trade surplus for January to October to $1.04 trillion. The country is on track to surpass last year's record of $1.2 trillion, when the $1 trillion mark was reached in November.

Exports from the world's second-largest economy have surged in recent months, driven in part by soaring global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products such as computer chips, data center servers and networking equipment. The trade boom has offered Beijing a key lifeline as domestic activity is weighed down by long-running problems in the property sector.

"Exporters have been the key driving force behind China's economy this year," Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, wrote. "I expect they will continue to perform well in the foreseeable future," he said.

The figures come ahead of another high-stakes meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen on Nov 18-19, which could also see trilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Exports to the United States surged 32.9 percent last month. Xi and Trump have maintained a shaky truce in their trade war since meeting in October last year and recently agreed to extend it.

The export boom has also fueled tensions with other trading partners, who fear floods of lower-cost Chinese goods are crowding out local competition. China's surplus with the European Union reached $310.7 billion in January-October, up from $241.6 billion a year earlier. Talks in Beijing last month between EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic and Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao ended with an agreement to limit exports of hybrid vehicles to Europe.

Analysts say Beijing is relying heavily on exports to meet its official growth target of 4.5 to 5.0 percent this year, its lowest in decades, as domestic consumption remains sluggish and inflation stays well short of the official target of around 2 percent.

AFP