In the first half of the year, the total value of imports and exports exceeded 25 trillion for the first time, with integrated circuits becoming the largest category of export goods in June

21st Century Business Herald Reporter Zhang Xu Beijing Report

On July 14, the State Council Information Office held a press conference to introduce the import and export situation of goods trade in the first half of 2026. In the first half of the year, China's total import and export value of goods trade reached 25.47 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.9%, breaking the 25 trillion yuan mark for the first time in history during the same period. Among them, exports were 14.73 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.4%, and imports were 10.74 trillion yuan, an increase of 22.1%. In the second quarter, the import and export value was 13.61 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.4%, the highest quarterly year-on-year growth rate since the third quarter of 2021.

While the scale steadily expanded, the optimization of foreign trade structure, more balanced import and export, and continuous promotion of diversified market layout became the main highlights of foreign trade operations in the first half of the year.

(Data chart)

Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Ministry of Commerce Research Institute, told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that against the backdrop of increasing global uncertainty and ongoing impacts of trade protectionism, China's steady growth in foreign trade provides strong support for the stable operation of global trade.

"China has always been committed to promoting balanced development of import and export trade, which is one of the important tasks clearly stated in this year's government work report. Driven by the aforementioned policies, the growth rate of imports has been particularly prominent, further highlighting the important role of the Chinese market in the global economic landscape and creating more favorable conditions for economic stability and smooth trade for all parties," Zhou Mi said.

The Proportion of High-tech Product Exports Rises

The further optimization of the export product structure is one of the most prominent features of foreign trade in the first half of the year. Customs data shows that in the first half of the year, China exported 9.36 trillion yuan worth of electromechanical products, an increase of 20.1%, accounting for 63.5% of the total export value, an increase of 3.5 percentage points compared to the same period last year. High-tech product exports reached 3.26 trillion yuan, an increase of 39%. Exports of self-owned brands grew by 25.4%, with a proportion increase of 2.4 percentage points.

Wang Jun, deputy director of the General Administration of Customs, stated at the press conference that with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, the import and export dynamics of related products in China are strong. In the first half of the year, the import and export of computing hardware such as electronic components and computer parts reached 5.13 trillion yuan, an increase of 56.6%. Intelligent products such as AI glasses, AI translators, and mechanical exoskeletons are rapidly iterating, with various innovative products continuously emerging.

Feng Lin, executive director of the Research and Development Department of Dongfang Jincheng, told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that the ongoing global AI investment boom is the core engine driving high export growth. Against this backdrop, the prices of chips, computer parts, and electronic components have risen sharply, strongly boosting China's export value. In June, the export value of integrated circuits reached 38.21 billion USD, accounting for 9.3% of the total export value, making it the largest category of export goods, contributing 6.5 percentage points to the overall export growth rate The effectiveness of the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry continues to be evident. In June, China's automobile export volume increased by 72.4% year-on-year, and the export value rose by 69.6%, with growth rates significantly improving by 29.9 and 30.3 percentage points compared to the previous month.

According to Zhou Mi, with the continuous improvement of domestic technology levels, especially the emergence of new products represented by artificial intelligence, China's high-tech products have effectively filled various market gaps globally, providing a practical path for countries to deeply participate in the development of the digital economy. The development momentum of domestic brands is particularly significant, reflecting that Chinese enterprises are placing greater emphasis on their positioning in the global value chain, actively leveraging their advantages, and pursuing higher added value. This also expands greater space for countries to strengthen industrial collaboration and international cooperation, creating more opportunities.

Emerging Markets as Growth Poles

In terms of market diversification, China's foreign trade "circle of friends" continued to expand in the first half of the year.

Customs data shows that in the first half of the year, imports and exports to countries participating in the "Belt and Road" initiative reached 12.97 trillion yuan, an increase of 14.8%, accounting for 50.9% of the total foreign trade value. Imports and exports to neighboring countries reached 9.44 trillion yuan, an increase of 20.6%. Growth rates for Latin America and Africa were 16.2% and 19.6%, respectively, while exports to the European Union grew by 10.2%.

Wang Jun stated, "Chinese enterprises are actively adapting to changes and continuously expanding cooperation space globally. Compared to the same period last year, in the first half of the year, 267,000 foreign trade enterprises expanded their business to new countries and regions, with a total import and export value growth of 22.6%, accounting for nearly 70% of the total foreign trade value."

At the press conference, photo by Ran Lili.

In the direction of Central and Eastern Europe, trade between China and Central and Eastern European countries has maintained growth for 10 consecutive years, with a total trade value of 580.12 billion yuan in the first half of the year, an increase of 11%, which is equivalent to 3.7 times the scale of the same period in 2012. Chinese enterprises have successively established automobile production and R&D bases in countries such as Serbia and Poland, and invested in multiple battery factories in Hungary and other countries. In the field of artificial intelligence, Chinese enterprises are cooperating with Serbia to build a humanoid robot production base.

Trade with Africa has been a highlight of the diversified layout in the first half of the year. Starting from May 1 this year, China has fully implemented zero tariff measures for 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations. This is another significant measure following the implementation of zero tariffs for all least developed countries with diplomatic relations on December 1, 2024. As a result, China has become the first major economy in the world to achieve unilateral, comprehensive zero-tariff treatment for all African countries with diplomatic relations and all least developed countries with diplomatic relations.

Wang Chunrui, director of the Georgia Research Center at the University of International Business and Economics, told the 21st Century Business Herald that this policy reflects China's firm determination to continue expanding its autonomous opening-up. For Africa, the comprehensive zero-tariff policy will reduce the tax burden on African products entering the Chinese market, facilitating the entry of African agricultural products, mineral products, and light industrial products into the Chinese market, thereby expanding the scale of bilateral trade between China and Africa and optimizing Africa's trade structure with China Customs data shows that in May and June, after the implementation of the zero-tariff measures, China imported a total of 193.8 billion yuan from Africa, a year-on-year increase of 23.5%, with more high-quality products from Africa entering the Chinese market. Imports of aquatic products and textile raw materials from Africa both achieved double-digit growth year-on-year; imports of specialty fruits such as avocados, apples, oranges, and grapefruits increased by 1.3 times, 89.6%, 27.9%, and 11.9%, respectively.

Wang Jun stated: "The new measures bring new opportunities. China will continue to expand high-level opening up, continuously optimize cooperation measures with Africa, and enhance the level of trade facilitation between China and Africa, allowing the results of China-Africa cooperation to benefit more enterprises and people from both sides, injecting strong momentum into the unity and cooperation of the Global South."

Balanced Development of Imports and Exports

Another significant feature of foreign trade in the first half of the year is that the growth rate of imports continues to exceed that of exports, promoting a more balanced trade. Data shows that in the first half of the year, the import growth rate was 8.7 percentage points higher than that of exports, contributing more to foreign trade growth than exports. The import value in the first half of the year exceeded 10 trillion yuan for the first time in history.

Lü Daliang, spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs and Director of the Statistical Analysis Department, stated that China's foreign trade is characterized by large imports and exports. China is not only the world's largest exporter but also the second-largest importer. Data from the first half of this year shows that the trade surplus narrowed by 4.7%. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China will continue to actively expand imports and promote balanced development of imports and exports.

From the perspective of the structure of imported goods, in the first half of the year, imports of bulk commodities such as energy and metal ores reached 1.429 billion tons, an increase of 3.4%; imports of electromechanical products amounted to 4.41 trillion yuan, a growth of 28%; and imports of agricultural products reached 768.48 billion yuan, an increase of 8.6%.

Feng Lin stated that the significant acceleration of imports this year is mainly due to three reasons: first, under the "large imports and exports" foreign trade model, export growth has a strong pulling effect on related import demand, especially the rapid growth of the semiconductor industry chain exports has greatly boosted related import demand. Second, due to strong demand or supply constraints, prices of major imported goods such as integrated circuits, crude oil, iron ore, and copper have generally risen. Third, with domestic industrial upgrades, trade in electromechanical products has become active.

Regarding the foreign trade trend in the second half of the year, Wang Jun frankly stated that China's foreign trade faces certain pressures in the second half of the year, but China has strong innovation momentum, vibrant main entities, and a high level of openness, ensuring that the basic situation of foreign trade remains stable, with confidence and capability to maintain the good momentum of foreign trade development.

Zhou Mi believes that global economic cooperation and international trade will still face many unstable factors, and the evolution of geopolitical conflicts and structural changes brought about by technological progress may trigger new uncertainties. In this context, all parties will more clearly recognize the importance of deepening economic and trade ties with China—such ties help reduce trade costs, alleviate inflationary pressures, and fill gaps in their own development, while providing effective support for the continuous upgrading of products and technologies.

"China will also continue to promote high-level opening up, further reduce institutional costs of trade, and enhance the level of trade facilitation. In the second half of the year, China's foreign trade is expected to maintain an overall stable development trend, continuing to inject positive energy into global economic recovery and growth," Zhou Mi said