Beijing —
China recorded the world’s biggest ever trade surplus in 2025, capping off a year in which the world’s largest manufacturer defied US trade pressure by ramping up exports to other global markets.
The huge trade surplus – a measure of how much more a country exports than it imports – stood at a record $1.2 trillion, marking a 20% jump from 2024 with Chinese companies deepening their pivot away from US consumers toward emerging markets in Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America.
China’s exports to the US, historically China’s largest single market, were down 19.5% overall in 2025 versus the previous year.
But while Beijing’s resilience in the face of US President Donald Trump’s trade war will be heralded as a victory inside China, globally, the surplus risks further inflaming trade tensions among nations who fear being overwhelmed by lower-cost Chinese imports.
Chinese officials have touted strong trade, particularly in key sectors such as electric vehicles, as a sign of the country’s durability, even with exports to the US dropping steeply as the world’s two largest economies engaged in a tit-for-tat trade confrontation throughout last year.
China “forged ahead” despite facing a “complex and challenging external environment,” Wang Jun, deputy administrator of the customs bureau, told a press briefing on Wednesday.