China's trade surplus tops $1 trillion in ten months amid export boom

Record surplus and October export surge

China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) released data showing that exports in October rose 35.2% year-on-year to $412.3 billion, while imports grew 41.6% to $307.1 billion. As a result, the trade surplus for the first ten months of the year reached $1.04 trillion. As Euronews notes, the $1 trillion mark was only crossed in November last year, and the record annual figure for 2025 was $1.2 trillion — meaning China is on track to surpass it this year.

Export boom amid demand for AI products

According to the outlet, in recent months exports from the world's second-largest economy have grown partly thanks to high global demand for AI-related products: computer chips, servers for data centers, and networking equipment. The trade boom has become an important pillar of the economy for Beijing against the backdrop of prolonged problems in the real estate sector and weak domestic consumption: according to Monday's data, inflation is still noticeably below the official target of around 2%. Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, called exporters the key driving force of the Chinese economy this year and said he expects them to continue delivering strong results, with macroeconomic policy remaining largely unchanged until the end of the year. Analysts, according to Euronews, believe Beijing relies heavily on exports to achieve the official growth target of 4.5–5.0% — the lowest in decades.

Tensions with partners and the APEC summit

Export growth has strained relations with a number of trade partners concerned that cheap Chinese goods are crowding out local producers. China's trade surplus with the EU for January–October rose to $310.7 billion, up from $241.6 billion in the same period last year, increasing pressure on Brussels. Talks between the EU's trade chief Maroš Šefčovič and his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao in Beijing last month ended with an agreement to limit exports of hybrid vehicles to Europe. Exports to the US rose 32.9% in October. The data was released a week before the APEC summit, which will be held on November 18–19 in Shenzhen: Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, who have maintained a fragile truce in the trade war since their meeting last October, recently agreed to extend the arrangements during talks in Washington in September, and at APEC, according to the outlet, three-way talks involving Vladimir Putin are also possible.