China’s trade with Belt and Road partners tops 20 trillion yuan in first three quarters of 2026

China's trade with Belt and Road partner countries rose 17.1 percent year on year to 20.37 trillion yuan, or about 3.04 trillion U.S. dollars, in the first three quarters of 2026, accounting for 51 percent of the country's total foreign trade, customs officials said Wednesday.

Lyu Daliang, a spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs, said the growth extended across a wide range of partner countries.

"In the first three quarters, China's trade with nearly 80 percent of Belt and Road partner countries increased. These countries accounted for 51 percent of China's total foreign trade and contributed 47.1 percent of its trade growth during the period. Based on the latest available international data, China ranked among the top three trading partners of 134 partner countries in the first seven months and was the largest trading partner of 74," Lyu said.

China's exports to the partner countries ranged from goods for infrastructure projects to medical equipment.

"On the export side, China has advanced major flagship projects alongside smaller initiatives aimed at improving people's lives. In the first three quarters, exports of goods for contracted construction projects in partner countries totaled nearly 100 billion yuan (about 15 billion U.S. dollars), supporting the development of major infrastructure projects. Exports of surgical robots to partner countries rose 290 percent, helping improve healthcare services," Lyu said.

On the import side, Lyu pointed to growing purchases of agricultural products and new approvals allowing more goods from partner countries into the Chinese market.

"China's imports of agricultural products from Egypt, Senegal and Kenya all recorded double-digit growth. Last month, Chinese customs also approved imports of plums and apricots from Tajikistan, bay leaves from Türkiye and cherries from South Africa. More high-quality products from Belt and Road partner countries will enter the Chinese market in the future, creating further opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation," Lyu said.

China’s trade with Belt and Road partners tops 20 trillion yuan in first three quarters of 2026

China's outstanding aggregate financing to the real economy stood at 468.17 trillion yuan (about 69.96 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of August, maintaining a reasonable growth rate of 7.1 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Wednesday.

M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, had increased by 7.2 percent year on year to 359.63 trillion yuan by the end of last month, according to the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

The growth rates of both aggregates align with the projected targets for economic growth and general price levels, indicating reasonable growth in the total volume of finance and supporting the economy's sustained development toward new, better, and more positive outcomes, according to the PBOC.

In the first three quarters, combined financing from bonds and stocks accounted for 49.5 percent of the total increase in aggregate financing to the real economy, surpassing the share of loans by nearly 7 percentage points, reflecting accelerated bond and equity financing and increasingly diversified financing channels.

During the same period, RMB loans increased by 11.52 trillion yuan, with funds increasingly flowing into technological innovation, green development, and micro, small, and medium enterprises.

China’s aggregate financial volume sees reasonable growth in September: central bank