China's foreign trade maintained steady growth in the first half of 2026, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality amid a complex and fluid external environment, according to data released Friday by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).
From January to June, the national trade promotion system issued more than 4.26 million certificates, including certificates of origin, ATA carnets -- an international customs document commonly known as the "passport for goods", and commercial certificates, representing a year-on-year increase of 9.64 percent, the CCPIT said.
The CCPIT data also highlighted robust bilateral exchanges with the United States. During the six-month period, CCPIT-affiliated offices issued 44,600 certificates of origin for exports to the U.S., involving 2.95 billion U.S. dollars in trade value, up 13.38 percent year over year.
Outbound ATA carnets from China to the U.S. reached 735, an increase of 15.93 percent, while inbound ATA carnets from the U.S. to China totaled 381, up 17.96 percent compared with same period last year.
"These figures show that in the face of the complex and fluid external environment, China's foreign trade has pressed ahead and maintained steady growth, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality. Two-way exchanges of personnel and goods between China and the U.S. have shown positive momentum in both quantity and quality," Yang Fan, a CCPIT spokeswoman, said at a press conference in Beijing on Friday.
On the exhibition front, as of the end of June, CCPIT had approved 150 projects for Chinese corporate to participate in U.S. trade fairs and exhibitions in 2026. Of these, 87 projects had already been implemented in the first half of the year, with nearly 2,000 Chinese companies attending exhibitions in the United States.
The agency said it will continue to promote exchanges and cooperation between the Chinese and American business communities to serve the steady, healthy, and sustainable development of bilateral relations.
China's foreign trade steadily expands in Jan-June despite external headwinds: trade promotion body
China ensured a stable power supply in the first half of this year in four aspects as the geopolitical conflicts continue to disrupt the international oil and gas supply chain, according to the spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission.
Spokesman Jiang Yi, also director of the commission's Policy Research Office, said at a press conference in Beijing on Friday that in the first half of the year, while meeting domestic energy demands, China has also made significant contributions to the stability of the global energy market and industrial and supply chains despite the complex and severe external environment.
Jiang said it is the super-large energy system in orderly operation that sustains a sense of security in domestic power consumption.
First, on the supply side, traditional energy has provided strong support, while new energy has become an important force in power supply, Jiang said.
Second, on the demand side, the green and low-carbon transformation continued to intensify, and the energy consumption structure continued to improve. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (2012), China's energy consumption has grown by 3.3 percent year after year on average, contributing an average of around 6 percent of the annual economic growth, he said.
Third, in terms of supporting conditions, infrastructure has formed a solid support, and reform and innovation have stimulated impetus and vitality. To build up the national oil and gas network, China has built pipelines five times the length of the terrestrial equator, Jiang said.
Fourth, with regards to international cooperation, the sources of imports have been enriched, and a diversified import pattern is accelerating its formation. China has established four major energy import channels in the northwest, northeast and southwest and at sea, covering more than 100 countries and regions, he said.
Meanwhile, in the face of the sharp fluctuations in the international energy market, China has promptly introduced a series of temporary measures to regulate the prices of refined oil products, Jiang said.
For example, when international oil prices rose sharply in March, the increase in refined oil prices for two consecutive rounds was only about 50 percent of the mechanism-based increase, effectively reducing the social oil cost and minimizing the impact of the international oil price changes on the real economy and the production and life of residents, he said.
China ensures power supply in H1 in four aspects amid int'l disruptions: spokesman
