According to customs statistics, in the first eleven months of 2025 China’s merchandise trade totaled RMB 41.21 trillion, up 3.6 % year-on-year. Exports rose 6.2 % to RMB 24.46 trillion, while imports edged up 0.2 % to RMB 16.75 trillion. In November alone, trade accelerated to RMB 3.9 trillion (+4.1 %): exports grew 5.7 % to RMB 2.35 trillion and imports 1.7 % to RMB 1.55 trillion.
Key features for January-November:
General & processing trade both expanded
- General trade: RMB 26.04 trillion (+2.1 %, 63.2 % share)
- Processing trade: RMB 7.74 trillion (+7.3 %, 18.8 % share)
- Bonded logistics: RMB 5.92 trillion (+5.5 %, 14.4 % share)
Trade with ASEAN and the EU increased
- ASEAN: RMB 6.82 trillion (+8.5 %, 16.6 % share)
- EU: RMB 5.37 trillion (+5.4 %, 13.0 % share)
- U.S.: RMB 3.69 trillion (–16.9 %, 8.9 % share)
- Belt & Road partners: RMB 21.33 trillion (+6.0 %)
Private and foreign-invested firms posted gains
- Private enterprises: RMB 23.52 trillion (+7.1 %, 57.1 % share, +1.8 pp)
- Foreign-invested enterprises: RMB 12.07 trillion (+3.5 %, 29.3 % share)
- State-owned enterprises: RMB 5.53 trillion (–8.6 %, 13.4 % share)
Electro-mechanical products >60 % of exports; ICs and vehicles surged
- Electro-mechanical exports: RMB 14.89 trillion (+8.8 %, 60.9 % share)
- Automatic data-processing equipment: RMB 1.31 trillion (–1.3 %)
- Integrated circuits: RMB 1.29 trillion (+25.6 %)
- Motor vehicles: RMB 896.9 billion (+17.6 %)
- Labour-intensive exports: RMB 3.70 trillion (–3.5 %, 15.1 % share)
- Garments: RMB 987.3 billion (–3.7 %)
- Textiles: RMB 931.3 billion (+1.7 %)
- Plastics: RMB 677.6 billion (–0.5 %)
- Farm products: RMB 670.2 billion (+2.0 %)
Bulk-import prices fell; electro-mechanical imports rose
- Iron ore: 1.14 billion t (+1.4 %), average price –9.4 %
- Crude oil: 522 million t (+3.2 %), price –12.1 %
- Coal: 432 million t (–12 %), price –23.9 %
- Natural gas: 114 million t (–4.7 %), price –9.4 %
- Soybeans: 104 million t (+6.9 %), price –10.7 %
- Refined oil products: 38.4 million t (–14.5 %), price –4.9 %
- Primary plastics: 24.3 million t (–7.8 %), price –0.8 %
- Unwrought copper & copper products: 4.88 million t (–4.7 %), price +6.4 %
- Electro-mechanical imports: RMB 6.69 trillion (+5.5 %)