China's Goods Trade Remains Stable in the First Two Months of 2025

According to customs data, China's total goods trade value in the first two months of 2025 reached RMB 6.54 trillion, down 1.2% year-on-year. (Due to two fewer working days compared to the same period last year, trade growth, excluding these non-comparable factors, was 1.7%.) Exports amounted to RMB 3.88 trillion, up 3.4%, while imports stood at RMB 2.66 trillion, down 7.3%. In USD terms, total trade was $909.37 billion, down 2.4%, with exports at $539.94 billion (up 2.3%) and imports at $369.43 billion (down 8.4%).

- General trade totaled RMB 4.2 trillion, down 3.6%, accounting for 64.3% of China's total trade. Exports rose 2.5% to RMB 2.55 trillion, while imports fell 11.7% to RMB 1.65 trillion.

- Processing trade reached RMB 1.2 trillion, up 7.1%, making up 18.3% of total trade. Exports in this category increased by 7.6% to RMB 752.96 billion, while imports grew by 6.4% to RMB 446.18 billion.

- Trade conducted through bonded logistics rose 4% to RMB 911.31 billion, with exports up 13.6% to RMB 389.16 billion and imports down 2.2% to RMB 522.15 billion.

- ASEAN remained China's largest trading partner, with total trade reaching RMB 1.03 trillion (up 4%), accounting for 15.8% of China's total trade. Exports grew 6.8% to RMB 626.68 billion, while imports declined 0.2% to RMB 406.65 billion.

- The EU was China's second-largest trading partner, with trade totaling RMB 833.34 billion (down 0.2%), accounting for 12.7% of total trade. Exports to the EU grew 1.8% to RMB 568.26 billion, while imports fell 4.3% to RMB 265.08 billion.

- The U.S. ranked third, with trade volume at RMB 733.67 billion (up 3.5%), making up 11.2% of China's total trade. Exports increased by 3.4% to RMB 543.13 billion, while imports rose 3.8% to RMB 190.54 billion.

- South Korea was China's fourth-largest trading partner, with total trade at RMB 335.51 billion (down 0.1%), accounting for 5.1%. Exports decreased by 1.5% to RMB 148.01 billion, while imports increased by 1% to RMB 187.5 billion.

Trade with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries totaled RMB 3.33 trillion, down 1%. Exports to these countries increased by 2.4% to RMB 1.87 trillion, while imports fell 5.1% to RMB 1.46 trillion.

- Private enterprises saw trade growth of 2%, reaching RMB 3.69 trillion, accounting for 56.4% of China's total trade (a 1.8 percentage point increase from last year). Exports grew by 1.6% to RMB 2.5 trillion (64.2% of total exports), while imports rose 2.7% to RMB 1.19 trillion (45% of total imports).

- Foreign-invested enterprises had trade valued at RMB 1.91 trillion, down 0.3% (29.2% of total trade). Their exports grew by 6.9% to RMB 1.08 trillion, while imports fell 8.3% to RMB 829.91 billion.

- State-owned enterprises saw a 13.4% decline in trade, totaling RMB 925.04 billion (14.2% of total trade). Exports rose by 6.6% to RMB 300.74 billion, while imports fell 20.6% to RMB 624.3 billion.

- Exports of mechanical and electrical products increased by 5.4% to RMB 2.33 trillion, representing 60% of total exports. Notable growth was recorded in:

- Automatic data processing equipment and components: RMB 217.68 billion (up 11.7%)

- Integrated circuits: RMB 180.44 billion (up 13.2%)

- Automobiles: RMB 116.02 billion (up 3.7%)

- Mobile phones: RMB 134.08 billion (down 2.2%)

- Labor-intensive products fell by 8.2% to RMB 608.13 billion (15.7% of total exports). Notable declines include:

- Clothing and accessories: RMB 155.74 billion (down 5.8%)

- Textiles: RMB 152.55 billion (down 0.9%)

- Plastic products: RMB 108.98 billion (down 7.3%)

- Agricultural exports grew 4.2% to RMB 109.44 billion.

- Iron ore: 191 million tons (down 8.4%), average price RMB 714.2 per ton (down 22.8%).

- Crude oil: 83.85 million tons (down 5%), price RMB 3,987.3 per ton (down 4.6%).

- Coal: 76.12 million tons (up 2.1%), price RMB 612.8 per ton (down 19.3%).

- Natural gas: 20.31 million tons (down 7.7%), price RMB 3,452.4 per ton (down 5.5%).

- Soybeans: 13.61 million tons (up 4.4%), price RMB 3,328.9 per ton (down 17.4%).

- Refined oil: 6.34 million tons (down 16.2%), price RMB 4,361.6 per ton (up 2.6%).

- Plastic in primary forms: 4.77 million tons (up 2.9%), price RMB 10,300 per ton (up 0.1%).

- Unwrought copper and copper materials: 837,000 tons (down 7.2%), price RMB 67,700 per ton (up 9.5%).

Imports of electromechanical products increased by 3.2% to RMB 1 trillion.

- Integrated circuits: 83.46 billion units (up 6.3%), worth RMB 402.28 billion (up 3.9%).

- Automobiles: 56,000 units (down 45.8%), worth RMB 21.6 billion (down 49.7%).

Overall, despite some fluctuations in trade performance across sectors and partners, China's foreign trade maintained a stable opening in the first two months of 2025.