China's total goods imports and exports grew 16.9 percent year on year in the first half of 2026, the latest official data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed on Tuesday.
Speaking at a press conference for China's half-year trade performance, Wang Jun, deputy head of the GAC, said China made significant progress in stabilizing the scale of foreign trade and optimizing its structure in the first six months of the year.
"In the first half of this year, China's total goods imports and exports stood at 25.47 trillion yuan (about 3.55 trillion U.S. dollars), up 16.9 percent year on year. Specifically, exports totaled 14.73 trillion yuan (about 2.17 trillion U.S. dollars), up 13.4 percent year on year, and imports reached 10.74 trillion yuan (about 1.58 trillion U.S. dollars), up 22.1 percent over the same period of the previous year," Wang said.
The foreign trade in June alone amounted to 4.78 trillion yuan (about 705 billion U.S. dollars), up 24.2 percent over the same month of the previous year, maintaining growth for 17 consecutive months, according to Wang.
Wang noted that the first six months saw further optimization of China's foreign trade structure.
"In the first half of the year, China's exports of electromechanical products totaled 9.36 trillion yuan (about 1.38 trillion U.S. dollars), up 20.1 percent year on year, accounting for 63.5 percent of the country's total export value, an increase of 3.5 percentage points compared to the same period of the previous year. Exports of high-tech products rose 39 percent to reach 3.26 trillion yuan (about 481 billion U.S. dollars)," Wang said.
"In the first half of the year, the growth of China's imports outpaced export growth by 8.7 percent, promoting a more balanced trade development. Specifically, imports of bulk commodities such as energy and metal ores reached 1.429 billion tons, up 3.4 percent year on year. Mechanical and electrical product imports totaled 4.41 trillion yuan (about 650 billion U.S. dollars), up 28 percent, while agricultural product imports reached 768.48 billion yuan (about 113.3 billion U.S. dollars), increasing by 8.6 percent year on year," he said.
From the perspective of trade partners, the trend of diversified markets were further strengthened in the first half of the year. Trade with Belt and Road Initiative partner countries reached 12.97 trillion yuan (about 1.91 trillion U.S. dollars), up 14.8 percent year on year, accounting for 50.9 percent of the country's total foreign trade. Trade with Latin America and Africa increased by 16.2 percent and 19.6 percent, respectively, while trade with the EU rose 10.2 percent year on year.
China's foreign trade expands 16.9 percent in January-June
