Overview
- Exports rose 5.9% year over year in November while imports increased 1.9%, lifting the monthly surplus to about $111.7 billion and the 11‑month surplus to roughly $1.08 trillion, already above 2024’s full-year total.
- Shipments to the United States fell about 28.6% in November to $33.8 billion even as exports to the European Union grew 14.8%, to Australia 35.8%, and to ASEAN economies 8.2%.
- Analysts attribute resilience to trade rerouting and stronger price competitiveness from a weaker real effective exchange rate, with some goods believed to be trans‑shipped via Southeast Asia.
- A late‑October Xi–Trump truce scaled back some tariffs and export controls, and economists say November figures likely do not yet capture the tariff changes, leaving uncertainty for 2026.
- Beijing has flagged measures to boost domestic demand at the Politburo meeting ahead of the Central Economic Work Conference, as a property slump and weak consumption continue to restrain imports.