Chinas Trade Surplus Surges to Record $1.2 TrillionWhere Are the Goods Going?

Last year’s trade surplus represents a 20 percent increase from 2024.Shipping containers are seen at the port in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, on Aug. 12, 2025. STR/AFP via Getty Images1/16/2026|Updated: 1/16/2026China posted a record annual trade surplus of $1.2 trillion in 2025 as Beijing navigates a slowing economy at home and President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs.Exports advanced 6.6 percent in December from a year earlier, rising from the 5.9 percent increase registered in the previous month, according to Chinese customs data released on Jan. 14. This was higher than the market estimate of 3 percent.Andrew Moran has been writing about business, economics, and finance for more than a decade. He is the author of “The War on Cash.”Author’s Selected Articles