HONG KONG — China had its biggest trade surplus ever last year at almost $1.2 trillion, according to data released Wednesday, defying tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed on the world’s second-largest economy as it sends more exports to other parts of the world.
China’s foreign trade in goods last year totaled 45.47 trillion yuan ($6.51 trillion), up 3.8% from the year before, state media reported, citing figures from the General Administration of Customs. That included 26.99 trillion yuan ($3.8 trillion) in exports and 18.48 trillion yuan ($2.6 trillion) in imports.
Exports grew 6.1% compared with the previous year, while imports grew 0.5%.
Stocks in mainland China and Hong Kong were up after the trade data was reported, with the Shanghai Composite index reaching its highest level in more than a decade.
The yearly data comes after China’s trade surplus surpassed the $1 trillion mark for the first time in November, compared with a trade surplus of $992 billion for all of 2024.
China had a monthly trade surplus of more than $100 billion seven times last year, helped in part by a weak yuan, compared with just once in 2024. Its overall exports have remained strong even as exports to the U.S. fell 28% in 2025, according to a report this week published by shipping data company Project 44.
China, a manufacturing giant and one of the U.S.’ biggest trading partners, heavily depends on exports for growth because of sluggish domestic demand and a long-running crisis in its property sector. As U.S. imports from China have declined amid the two countries’ trade war, China has focused more on markets in Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.
The shift has raised concerns in other countries that their markets will be flooded with low-cost Chinese goods that threaten domestic producers.
Trump has imposed steep tariffs on Chinese goods since he returned to office last January, blaming the U.S. trade deficit with China on unfair trade practices. Several rounds of retaliatory tariffs by both countries brought tariffs as high as 145%, amounting to an effective trade embargo.
Though Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed in October to extend a trade truce for one year, the U.S. tariff rate on Chinese goods remains at 47.5%, which experts say is too high for Chinese exporters to make a profit.
