A cargo ship is loading and unloading international 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 file within the mixed January-February interval, whereas exports massively beat expectations, underscoring the resilience of the world’s second-largest financial system regardless of commerce tensions with the U.S.
China usually combines January and February commerce information to clean distortions from the shifting Lunar New Yr vacation.
China’s commerce steadiness surged to $213.62 billion, in contrast with expectations of $179.6 billion.
Exports from China rose 21.8% 12 months on 12 months 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 12 months earlier, towards expectations of a 6.3% progress, customs information confirmed Wednesday.
Authorities information 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 12 months 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 bounce in additional than three years, supported by spending throughout an prolonged vacation.
China’s CPI rose 1.3% in February from a 12 months 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 information 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 struggle 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.
Nonetheless, 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 at the moment stand on the international 10% degree after the Supreme Courtroom struck down Trump’s tariffs enacted underneath the Worldwide Emergency Financial Powers Act.
Nonetheless, earlier tariffs underneath Part 301 of the Commerce Act of 1974 and Part 232 of the Commerce Growth Act of 1962 stay in impact for some merchandise, reaching as excessive as 100%.
Enterprise intelligence agency China Briefing stated in February that “as a result of multitude of present duties, the efficient tariff price on many Chinese language items shipped to the US stays near 30 % – 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.
