China’s exports rose nearly 22% in the first two months of 2026 compared to the same period the previous year, as trade with countries other than the United States expanded.
The export figures released by China’s General Administration of Customs far exceeded economists’ forecasts, well surpassing the annual growth rate of 6.6% recorded in December. Imports in January and February rose nearly 20%, above the 5.7% increase recorded in December. However, China’s imports from the US fell nearly 27% year-on-year.
China’s exports have been a bright spot for the economy despite tensions with the US. Chinese exports rose 5.5% in 2025, with the trade surplus reaching a record of nearly $1.2 trillion (€1 trillion).
A surge in shipments to other regions, including Europe and Latin America, helped offset a 20% drop in exports to the US, after US president Donald Trump imposed a series of higher tariffs on imports from much of the world.
China’s global trade surplus in January and February stood at $213.6 billion (€183 billion).
Trade data are typically combined for January and February each year to help balance the seasonal effects of the Lunar New Year festival, the country’s largest holiday period.
A slowdown in the domestic economy, fuelled by a multi-year recession in the property sector, has weighed on the world’s second-largest economy. Last week, Chinese leaders announced a GDP growth target of 4.5% to 5% for 2026 — the lowest since 1991.
The Middle East war has increased uncertainty over the outlook for trade as well as China’s own energy security. An effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — a transit point for much of the world’s oil and gas trade — could restrict China’s access to relatively cheap Iranian oil and also reduce trade with the region.
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A recent US Supreme Court ruling against Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which has already resulted in lower rates for countries including China, could “provide modest support to Chinese exports,” economists at Bank of America wrote in a research note.
Trump’s planned visit to Beijing at the end of March is being closely watched for a possible extension of the trade truce between the two countries reached in October, which could be positive news for Chinese exports to the US.
