17.10.2026 Trade & Markets #China #Export #Import #Statistics

China's monthly trade tops 5 trillion yuan for the first time

China's goods trade reached 5.16 trillion yuan in September 2026 (about $771 billion, according to CGTN), topping 5 trillion yuan in a single month for the first time. The General Administration of Customs (GACC) presented the figures at a State Council Information Office press conference on 14 October.

Nine months: imports outpace exports

From January to September, goods trade totaled 39.94 trillion yuan (+18.8%). Exports reached 23.2 trillion yuan (+16.4%) and imports 16.74 trillion yuan (+22.3%). Import growth runs 5.9 percentage points ahead of exports.

Growth has accelerated each quarter, at 15.3%, 18.3% and 22.3% in Q1, Q2 and Q3. In September, exports came to 3.03 trillion yuan (+29.6%) and imports to 2.13 trillion yuan (+24.6%). CGTN describes it as the sixth consecutive month of double-digit growth.

Trade by partner: ASEAN and FTA partners grow faster than the US and EU

Performance differs by market:

ASEAN: 6.84 trillion yuan, +22.7%;
EU: 4.78 trillion yuan, +8.4%;
US: 3.18 trillion yuan, +4.1%;
Belt and Road countries: 20.37 trillion yuan, +17.1%;
free trade agreement partners: 19.55 trillion yuan, +30%, accounting for more than 70% of trade growth (source).

The transcript contains no separate figures for Russia or the EAEU, so none are cited here.

Product mix and market participants

Equipment manufacturing (装备制造业) delivered almost 90% of export growth. Exports of integrated circuits rose 99.1%, electric vehicles 72.3% and lithium batteries 36.4%. Integrated circuit imports increased 56.6%.

Private enterprises accounted for 22.73 trillion yuan of trade (+19.1%, a 56.9% share). Cross-border e-commerce was preliminarily estimated at about 2.18 trillion yuan (+4.4%), of which exports were about 1.75 trillion yuan.

Implications for importers and exporters

For buyers sourcing in China, the key reference points are the structure of export growth: equipment manufacturing delivered almost 90% of it, integrated circuit exports rose 99.1% and electric vehicle exports 72.3%. For suppliers to China, the figure is imports, which grew 22.3% over nine months, ahead of exports.

GACC Deputy Head Wang Jun (王军) said that growth in imports and exports (进出口) in Q4 has "a foundation and support" ("四季度进出口持续增长有基础、有支撑"). Separately, on the export outlook, he said that the fundamentals (基本面) of exports have not changed (transcript).

Primary sources

This material is for information only and does not constitute legal advice or customs consulting. Verify changes against the primary sources before acting.