Opinion

China's foreign trade posts robust H1 growth amid global headwinds

China's foreign trade remained resilient and well balanced in the first half of the year, delivering steady growth in scale, continued structural improvement, and rising momentum, despite a challenging global trade landscape marked by geopolitical frictions and a strained global trade environment.

Total goods trade reached RMB 25.47 trillion in the January–June period, up 16.9% from a year earlier, according to customs data. Exports grew 13.4% to RMB 14.73 trillion, while imports jumped 22.1% to RMB 10.74 trillion.

A key highlight is the increasingly prominent role of private enterprises, whose trade surged 17% year on year to account for 57% of the national total, outpacing the overall trade growth rate. This reflects their agility in responding to shifting global demand and their drive to innovate in a highly competitive environment. Foreign-invested enterprises recorded RMB 7.39 trillion in trade, up 17.1%, while state-owned enterprises posted 3.5 trillion yuan, a 16.8% increase.

In the first half of the year, the top 10 provincial-level regions in terms of economic output registered a combined RMB 19.07 trillion in foreign trade, up 15.7%, accounting for 74.9% of the national total, reinforcing the importance of regional powerhouse in driving overall growth. Regionally, the Yangtze River Delta continues to serve as China's trade anchor, with first-half trade hitting a record high of RMB 9.62 trillion, with an 18% increase, accounting for 37.8% of the national total, which underscores the region's critical role in sustaining national export performance.

As China's foreign trade accelerates its transformation, exports are advancing toward higher value-added, more intelligent, and greener products. The "new three" - electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar panels - have emerged as standout performers, riding the global wave of green transition. At the same time, high-tech and high-value-added goods are increasingly shaping the export landscape. Computing hardware alone, spanning electronic components and computer parts, saw its trade volume surge 56.6% year on year to RMB 5.13 trillion, as global demand for smart terminals, telecom equipment, and digital accessories continues to expand rapidly.

Policy

1. A joint notice released by the Ministry of Finance, the State Taxation Administration, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has made clear that a pilot environmental protection tax on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) will take effect on January 1, 2027, with all VOCs to be included in the tax base.

2. The group standard of general rules for cost accounting models in the photovoltaic industry, led by the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, was recently released. The standard will help guide enterprises toward reasonable pricing and support orderly market competition with a unified benchmark.

Data

1. The National Informatization Development Report (2025) recently released by the Cyberspace Administration of China showed that in 2025, the added value of China's core industries of the digital economy accounted for more than 10.5% of GDP, and the revenue of digital industry reached RMB 39.6 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 8.8%.

2. In the first half of this year, China's automobile exports reached RMB 635.82 billion, a year-on-year increase of 48.3%, sold to more than 210 countries and regions around the world. Among them, new energy vehicle exports reached RMB 360.68 billion, a year-on-year increase of 68.7%.

3. In the first half of this year, ports along the main stream of the Yangtze River completed a cargo throughput of 1.97 billion tons, of which container throughput reached 14.218 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 3.9%.

4. According to news from Chongqing Customs, from January to June this year, the imports and exports of the "13+2" provinces autonomous regions and cities along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor through the corridor exceeded RMB 500 billion for the first time in history, reaching RMB 517.23 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13%.

5. China's electric vehicle charging infrastructure saw rapid expansion in the first half of 2026, with total charging facilities reaching 23.06 million by the end of June, up 43.2% year on year, according to data released on July 28 by the National Energy Administration.

6. China invested RMB 515.1 billion (about 75.82 billion U.S. dollars) in the construction of 33,000 water conservancy facilities nationwide in the first half (H1) of 2026, data from the Ministry of Water Resources showed.

7. China's tax revenue rose 4.9% from a year earlier to more than RMB 10 trillion (about 1.47 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2026, supported by an improving economy and a recovery in factory-gate prices. The country's total tax and fee revenue reached RMB 16.7 trillion in the January-June period, according to the State Taxation Administration.

8. Market-based electricity transactions nationwide totaled 3.68 trillion kilowatt-hours in the first half of 2026, up 24.2% year on year. Intra-provincial electricity trading rose 27.9%; inter-provincial and cross-regional electricity transaction volume increased by 12.1% year-on-year during this period, according to data released by the National Energy Administration on July 27.

9. Profits of China's industrial firms above designated size increased 18.7% year on year during the first half (H1) of 2026. These industrial firms with an annual main business revenue of at least RMB 20 million (about 2.95 million U.S. dollars) saw their combined profits reach RMB 3.95 trillion in the January-June period, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

10. China-Europe freight trains have made more than 130,000 trips and transported goods with a total value exceeding USD 520 billion, latest official data from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) showed on July 28. As a flagship project and a landmark brand of the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Europe freight train service, also referred to as the "steel camel caravans," has established a comprehensive logistics network across Eurasia.

(Source: Economic Daily)