China's foreign trade in goods grew steadily in the first three quarters of this year, displaying five notable characteristics in performance, Wang Jun, deputy head of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), told a press conference on Monday in Beijing.
According to official data from the GAC, the country's total goods imports and exports in yuan-denominated terms rose to 33.61 trillion yuan (about 4.73 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months of 2025, up 4 percent year on year. This rate accelerated from an increase of 3.5 percent registered in the first eight months of the year.
The GAC official noted that the trade in goods in the three quarters displayed five major characteristics.
"First, the growth rates of imports and exports have picked up each quarter. China's imports and exports grew by 1.3 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively, in the first and second quarters of this year, and by 6 percent in the third quarter, achieving year-on-year growth for eight consecutive quarters," Wang said. "Second, more efforts were made to advance market diversification. In the first three quarters, China's imports and exports with the Belt and Road Initiative partner countries reached 17.37 trillion yuan (about 2.44 trillion U.S. dollars), an increase of 6.2 percent, accounting for 51.7 percent of the total imports and exports, which is an increase of 1.1 percentage points. Total imports and exports with ASEAN, Latin America, Africa, and Central Asia grew by 9.6 percent, 3.9 percent, 19.5 percent, and 16.7 percent, respectively. Our imports and exports with other economies in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) also increased by 2 percent," he continued.
"Third, China's exported goods had new features and even higher quality. In the first three quarters, China exported 12.07 trillion yuan (about 1.7 trillion U.S. dollars) worth of machinery and electronic products, an increase of 9.6 percent, accounting for 60.5 percent of the total exports, which is an increase of 1.4 percentage points. Among these, exports of high-tech products such as electronic information, high-end equipment and instruments grew by 8.1 percent, 22.4 percent, and 15.2 percent, respectively. Additionally, the growth rates for green products like the 'new trio' (EVs, lithium batteries, and solar cells) and rail locomotives reached double digits," Wang said.
Wang pointed to the gradually recovering imports as the fourth characteristic. With domestic demand coutinued to be unleashed, he said, imports grew by 0.3 percent year on year in the second quarter, and the growth rate further accelerated to 4.7 percent in the third quarter.
Fifth, foreign trade entities were proactive in business, according to Wang. In the first three quarters, the number of foreign trade enterprises in the country with import and export records reached 700,000, an increase of 52,000 compared from the same period last year, he said.
Official on characteristics of China's foreign trade performance in first 9 months
Official on characteristics of China's foreign trade performance in first 9 months
Official on characteristics of China's foreign trade performance in first 9 months
