A cargo ship is loading and unloading overseas commerce containers at Qingdao Port in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, Jan. 13, 2026.
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China’s commerce surplus rose to its highest on document within the mixed January-February interval, whereas exports massively beat expectations, underscoring the resilience of the world’s second-largest economic system regardless of commerce tensions with the U.S.
China sometimes combines January and February commerce knowledge to easy distortions from the shifting Lunar New 12 months vacation.
China’s commerce steadiness surged to $213.62 billion, in contrast with expectations of $179.6 billion.
Exports from China rose 21.8% yr on yr within the mixed January-February interval, beating the 7.1% progress anticipated by economists polled by Reuters.
Imports rose 19.8% within the first two months from a yr earlier, in opposition to expectations of a 6.3% progress, customs knowledge confirmed Wednesday.
Authorities knowledge confirmed that whereas commerce with the U.S. plunged 16.9% to 609.71 billion yuan ($88.22 billion) in contrast with the identical interval the yr earlier than, commerce with the EU climbed 19.9% to 998.94 billion yuan.
Commerce with ASEAN additionally rose 20.3% to succeed in 1.24 trillion yuan.
The commerce figures come after China’s shopper inflation recorded its greatest leap in additional than three years, supported by spending throughout an prolonged vacation.
China’s CPI rose 1.3% in February from a yr earlier and surpassed economists’ forecasts for a 0.8% enhance in a Reuters ballot.
The rise, following a 0.2% rise in January, marked the strongest rebound since January 2023.
The info additionally comes after China concluded its “Two Classes” coverage assembly, the place Chinese language Premier Li Qiang acknowledged the affect of U.S. tariffs whereas outlining financial targets on Thursday.
Beijing and Washington have been locked in a commerce battle since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Workplace in January 2025, with each side elevating and reducing tariffs on one another’s items all through 2025.
Nevertheless, relations improved after a gathering between Trump and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Busan, South Korea, in October.
U.S. tariffs on Chinese language items presently stand on the international 10% degree after the Supreme Court docket struck down Trump’s tariffs enacted below the Worldwide Emergency Financial Powers Act.
Nevertheless, earlier tariffs below Part 301 of the Commerce Act of 1974 and Part 232 of the Commerce Enlargement Act of 1962 stay in impact for some merchandise, reaching as excessive as 100%.
Enterprise intelligence agency China Briefing mentioned in February that “as a result of multitude of present duties, the efficient tariff fee on many Chinese language items shipped to the US stays near 30 p.c – nonetheless the best of any nation.”
— CNBC’s Anniek Bao and Evelyn Cheng contributed to this story.
That is breaking information, please verify again for updates.
